LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

University  of  California. 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  i8g4. 
tAcccssions  No.5^^^^1^     Class  No. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/apostolicalprimiOOcolerich 


*HE 


APOSTOLICAL 


PRIMITIVE    CHURCH, 


POPULAR  IN  ITS  GOVERffJVtBNT,  AND  SIMPLE 
IN  itS  ^risHIP. 


LYMAN  COCEMAN, 

AUTHOR  OF  "  ANTIQ,UITIES  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 


WITH  AN   INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY, 
•  BY 

Dr.  AUGUSTUS  NEANDER, 

PROFESSOR   OF    THEOLOGY    IN    THE    UNIVERSITT    OF    BERLIN. 


Secontr  Hlrftfon. 

BOSTON: 
GOULD,    KENDALL   AND    LINCOLN, 

59  Washington  Street, 

1844. 


0.4 


0 


^^rifc 


£ntered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1844,  by 

GOULD,  KENDALL  &  LINCOLN, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


^     ANDOVER: 


ALLEN,TI0RR1LL  AND  WARDWELL, 
PRINTERS. 


C  L 


PREFACE 


TO    THE   FIRST  EDITION. 


The  object  of  the  author,  in  the  following  work,  is  to  com- 
mend to  the  consideration  of  the  reader  the  admirable  simplici- 
ty of  the  government  and  worship  of  the  primitive  chm-ch,  in 
opposition  to  the  polity  and  ceremonials  of  prelacy. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  object,  he  has  sought,  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  best  guides,  to  go  to  the  original  sources,  and  first 
and  chiefly  to  draw  from  them.  On  the  constitution  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  church,  none  have  written  with  greater  ability, 
or  with  more  extensive  and  searching  erudition,  than  Mosheim, 
Planck,  Neander  and  Rothe.  These  have  been  his  principal  re- 
liance ;  and  after  these  a  great  variety  of  authors. 

If  the  reader  object,  that  the  authorities  cited  are  beyond  his 
reach,  or  are  recorded  in  a  language  to  him  unknown,  the  wri- 
ter can  only  say,  that  he  has  endeavored  to  collect  the  best  au- 
thorities, wherever  they  might  be  found.  When  embodied  in 
the  pages  of  the  work,  they  are  given  in  a  translation ;  and,  if 
of  special  importance,  the  original  is  inserted  in  the  margin,  for 
the  examination  of  the  scholar. 

The  work  has  been  prepared  with  an  anxious  endeavor  to  sus- 
tain the  positions  advanced,  by  references  sufficiently  copious, 
pertinent  and  authoritative  ;  and  yet  to  guard  against  an  osten- 
tatious aflTectation  in  the  accumulation  of  authorities.  Several 
hundred  have  indeed  been  entered  in  these  pages ;  but  many 
more,  that  have  fallen  under  the  eye  of  the  writer,  have  been 
rejected.    Af  uch  labor,  of  which  the  reader  probably  will  make 


1* 


IV  PREFACE. 

small  account,  has  been  expended  in  an  endeavor  to  authenti- 
cate those  that  are  retained,  and  to  give  him  an  explicit  direction  to 
them.  The  work  has  been  written  with  studied  brevity,  and  a 
uniform  endeavor  to  make  it  at  once  concise,  yet  complete,  and 
suggestive  of  principles. 

In  the  prosecutiop  of  these  labors,  the  author  has  received 
much  encouragement  and  many  important  suggestions,  from 
friends,  whose  services  he  holds  in  grateful  remembrance.  For 
such  favors  he  is  particularly  indebted  to  Professor  Park,  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  in  this  place. 

Above  all,  it  is  the  author's  grateful  duty  publicly  to  express 
his  acknowledgments  to  Dr.  Neander,  not  only  for  his  Intro- 
ductory Essay,  but  for  the  uniform  kindness  of  his  counsels  in 
the  preparation  of  the  several  parts  of  this  work.  The  writer 
can  say  nothing  to  add  to  the  reputation  of  this  eminent  scholar, 
distinguished  alike  for  his  private  virtues,  his  public  services, 
and  his  vast  and  varied  erudition.  He  can  only  express  his  ob- 
ligations for  the  advantages  derived  from  the  contributions  and 
counsels  of  this  great  historian,  for  which  the  reader,  in  com- 
mon with  the  WTiter  of  the  following  pages,  will  owe  his  grate- 
ful acknowledgments.  For  the  sentiments  here  expressed,  how- 
ever, the  writer  is  alone  responsible. 

The  translation  of  the  Introduction  was  made  in  Berlin ;  and 
after  a  careful  comparison  with  the  original  by  Dr.  Neander,  re- 
ceived his  unqualified  approbation.  It  is,  therefore,  to  be  re- 
ceived as  an  authentic  expression  of  his  sentiments  on  the  seve- 
ral topics  to  which  it  relates. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work,  the  author  has  studiously 
sought  to  write  neither  as  a  Congregationalist,  nor  as  a  Presby- 
terian exclusively  ;  but  as  the  advocate  of  a  free  and  popular 
government  in  the  church ;  and  of  simplicity  in  worship,  in  har- 
mony with  the  free  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  is  enough 
for  the  author,  and,  as  he  would  hope,  for  both  Congregational- 
ists  and  Presbyterians,  if  the  church  is  set  free  from  the  bondage  of 
a  prelatical  hierarchy ;   and  trained,  by  simple  and  expressive 


•V»  PREFACE.  ▼ 

rites,  to  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  In  opposition  to 
Ihe  assumptions  of  prelacy,  there  is  common  groimd  sufficient 
for  all  the  friends  of  a  popular  government  in  the  church  of 
Christ  to  occupy.  In  the  topics  discussed  in  the  following  pages 
they  have  equal  interest,  whether  they  would  adopt  a  purely 
democratical  or  a  representative  form  of  government  as  the  best 
means  of  defending  the  populai*  rights  of  the  church.  We 
heartily  wish  indeed  for  all  true  churchmen  a  closer  conformity 
to  the  primitive  pattern  in  government  and  in  worship ;  but  we 
have  no  controversy  even  with  them  on  minor  points,  provided 
we  may  still  be  united  with  them  in  the  higher  principles  of 
Christian  fellowship  and  love.  The  writer  has  the  happiness 
to  number  among  the  members  of  the  Episcopal  church  some 
of  his  most  cherished  friends,  to  whose  sentiments  he  would  be 
sorry  to  do  violence  by  anything  that  may  appear  in  these 
pages. 

Indeed,  the  great  controversy  of  the  day  is  not  with  Protestant 
Episcopacy,  as  such  ;  it  is  rather  with  Formalism.  Formalism 
wherever  seen,  by  whatever  name  it  is  known, — this  is  the  great 
antagonist  principle  of  spiritual  Christianity.  Here  the  church 
is  brought  to  a  crisis,  great  and  fearful  in  prospect,  and  mo- 
mentous, for  good  or  for  evil,  in  its  final  results.  The  struggle 
at  issue  is  between  a  spiritual  and  a  formal  religion ; — against  a 
religion  which  substitutes  the  outward  form  for  the  inward  spi- 
rit; which  exalts  sacraments,  ordinances  and  rites,  into  the  place 
of  Christ  himself;  and  disguises,  under  the  covering  of  imposing 
ceremonials,  the  great  doctrines  of  the  cross. 

The  church  is  at  issue  with  this  religion  under  the  forms  of 
high  church  Prelacy,  "  Puseyism,"  and  Popery.  The  present 
struggle  began  in  England ;  but  when  or  where  or  how  it  will 
end,  who  can  tell  ?  Dr.  Pusey  himself  declares  that  on  the  issue 
of  it,  "  hangs  the  destiny  of  the  church  of  England."  The  Tract- 
arians  all  avow, — "  that  two  schemes  of  doctrine,  the  Genevan 
and  the  Catholic,  are  probably  for  the  last  time  struggling  with- 
in that  church."  But  the  conflict  is  not  confined  to  England. 
1* 


VI  PREFACE. 

The  signs  of  the  times,  everywhere  darkly  portentous,  presage 
a  similar  conflict  to  the  church  of  Christ  universally. 

In  this  eventful  crisis  we  are  urgently  pressed  to  a  renewed 
examination  of  the  apostolical  and  primitive  polity  of  the  church 
in  government  and  in  worship ;  for  under  cover  of  these  the 
warfare  of  formaUsm  is  now  waged.  These  are  tlie  prominent 
points,  both  of  attack  and  of  defence,  to  which  the  eye  of  the 
minister,  the  theological  student,  and  the  intelligent  Christian  of 
every  name,  should  be  turned.  Let  them  fall  back  on  that  spi- 
ritual Christianity  which  Christ  and  his  apostles  taught.  Let 
them,  in  doctrine,  in  discipHne,  and  in  worship,  entrench  them- 
selves withm  the  strongholds  of  this  rehgion  ;  and  here,  in  calm 
reliance  upon  the  great  Captain  of  our  salvation,  let  them  await 
the  issue  of  the  contest. 

Hitherto  the  great  body  of  the  people  have  been  left  to  gather 
up  information  upon  this  branch  of  religious  knowledge,  as  they 
could ;  and  the  most  have  been  content  with  a  blind  acquies- 
cence in  the  customs  of  their  own  church.  A  due  degree  of 
knowledge  on  this  subject  is  appai-ently  possessed  by  very  few 
of  our  leading  men,  and  is  by  no  means  the  property  generally 
of  clergymen  and  theological  students. 

To  what  purpose  is  it  now  merely  to  follow  the  history  of  the 
church,  century  by  century,  through  the  recital  of  her  suflTer- 
ings  ?  The  times  are  changed,  and  a  corresponding  change  is 
required  in  the  study  of  ecclesiastical  histoiy.  This  study  is 
chiefly  important,  for  existing  exigencies,  to  illustrate  the  usages, 
the  rites,  the  government  of  the  church,  and  the  pei*version  of 
these  to  promote  the  ends  of  bigotiy,  intolerance  and  supersti- 
tion. Besides,  we  have  seen,  for  some  years  past,  an  influence 
stealing  silently  upon  the  public  mind,  and  allurmg  many  young 
clergymen  and  candidates  for  the  ministiy  from  the  fold  of  their 
fothers ; — an  influence  to  be  counteracted  by  a  better  under- 
standing of  our  own  government  and  worship.  Bishop  Gris- 
wold  stated  in  1841,  that  of  "two  hundred  and  eighty  persons 
ordained  by  him,  two  hundred  and  seven  came  from  other  deno- 


PREFACE.  VU 

minations."  And  another  bishop  says,  "  From  the  most  accu- 
rate mvestigation  that  can  be  made,  I  am  led  to  believe,  that 
about  three  hundred  clergymen  and  licentiates  of  other  denomi- 
nations, have  within  the  last  thirty  years,  sought  the  ministerial 
commission  from  the  hands  of  bishops  of  that  church ;  and,  that 
at  least  two-thirds  were  not  originally,  by  education,  Episcopali- 
ans, but  have  come  from  other  folds."  These  facts  afford  mat- 
ter for  serious  inquiiy.  These  three  hundred  were  not  originally 
Episcopalians.  Were  they, "  by  education,^^  anything  else  ?  Would 
they  have  strayed  away  in  such  numbers  from  their  own  fold, 
had  they  been  duly  instructed  in  the  principles  of  that  order  to 
which  they  originally  belonged  ? 

The  author  is  deeply  sensible  of  the  magnitude  and  difficulty 
of  the  work  which  he  has  undertaken ;  and  with  no  affected 
modesty,  avows  the  unfeigned  diffidence  with  which  he  com- 
mends it  to  the  public.  Would  it  were  worthier,  and  better 
fitted  for  the  great  end  proposed  by  it.  But  he  has  done  what 
he  could,  and  finds  his  reward  in  the  consciousness  of  having 
labored  honestly  in  a  righteous  cause,  and  in  the  hope  of  doing 
something  for  tlie  promotion  of  that  religious  system  which 
shall  enable  the  true  worshippers  to  worship  the  Father  in  spirit 
and  in  ti-uth.  Such  a  religious  system,  he  believes  most  firm- 
ly, must  ever  find  its  truest  expression  in  rites  of  worship  few 
and  simple,  and  in  a  government  administered  in  every  part 
and  every  particular  by  the  people ; — in  a  ritual  without  a 
prayer-book  ;  and  a  church  without  a  bishop. 

Andover,  February,  1844. 


PREFACE 


TO  THE  SECOND   EDITION. 


In  this  edition  the  plan  of  the  work,  together  with  the  gen- 
eral course  of  the  argument  and  illustration,  remains  unaltered. 
Its  pages,  however,  have  been  carefully  revised  by  the  author. 
The  result  of  this  revision  will  appear  in  various  additions  and 
improvements ;  especially,  it  is  hoped,  in  a  general  freedom 
from  those  inaccuracies  of  expression,  and  those  errors  of  the 
press,  which  circumstances  rendered  unavoidable  in  the  first 
edition.  The  author  has  not  been  able  to  superintend  the  print- 
ing of  the  present  edition ;  but  this  trust  has  been  so  faithfully 
discharged  by  the  gentlemen  who  kindly  assumed  the  supervis- 
ion of  the  press,  that  he  has  no  occasion  to  regret  his  own  ab- 
sence. With  grateful  acknowledgments  to  those  gentlemen 
for  their  important  services,  and  to  the  various  friends  who 
have  interested  themselves  in  the  work,  and  from  whom  he  has 
received  many  valuable  suggestions,  the  author  has  the  plea- 
sure again  to  commend  the  "  Primitive  Church,"  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  public. 

Auburn^  JV.  Y.,  August,  1844. 


CONTENTS 


Page, 
Introductory  Essav, .        .13 

CHAPTER  I. 
Summary  View, 25 

»       CHAPTER  II. 
The  Primitive  Churches  formed  after  the  model  of  the 
Jewish  Synagogue, 39' 

CHAPTER  III. 
Independence  of  the  Primitive  Churches,  ...      47 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Elections  by  the  Churches, 53 

1.  Scriptural  argument, 54 

2.  Historical  argument, 64 

Loss  of  the  right  of  suffrage, 70 

Remarks  on  election  by  the  people, 80 

CHAPTER  V. 

Discipline  by  the  Churches, 87 

Argument  from  Scripture,  .        .        .        .        .         .88 


CONTENTS. 


From  the  early  fathers,        .... 
From  ecclesiastical  writers, 

From  analogy, 

Mode  of  admission,     .         . 

Usurpation  of  discipline  by  the  priesthood, 

Remarks  on  discipline  by  the  churches, 


'age. 
94 

106 

107 

112 

113 

117 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Equality  and  Identity  of  Bishops  and  Presbyters,  .        .     134 


Scriptural  Argument, 
Their  titles  used  interchangeably. 
Their  qualifications  required  to  be  the  same 
Their  duties  the  same, 
Presbyterian  ordination, 
James  not  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  . 
Timothy  not  bishop  of  Ephesus, 
Titus  not  bishop  of  Crete,  . 
The  angels  of  the  churches  in  the  Apocalypse  not  bishops 


126 
131 
133 
139 
146 
152 
156 
157 


Historical  Argument. 
Presbyters  and  bishops  designated  by  the  same  names  in 

the  early  Fathers, 162 

Presbyterian  ordination,  in  ancient  history,  .  .  .  176 
Validity  of  it  conceded  by  the  English  Reformers,  .  .  191 
Primitive  bishops  merely  parish  ministers,  .         .         .     198 

Parochial  Episcopacy, 201 

Bearings  of  it  upon  prelacy, 211 

Equality  of  bishops  and  presbyters  conceded,  down  to  the 

time  of  the  Reformation, 215 

Remarks  on  the  primitive  and  popular  government  of  the 

churches, 229 


CONTENTS.  m 

CHAPTER  VTI. 

Page. 
Rise  of  Episcopacy, 246 

Ascendency  of  the  churches  in  the  cities  over  those  in  the 

country, 247 

Reasons  for  this  ascendency,       ......    249 

Superiority  of  bishops  in  cities  over  those  of  the  country,      254 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Diocesan  Goverkment,   , 267 

Means  of  its  development, 267 

Its  results, 274 


CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Metropolitan  Government,  . 
Means  of  its  establishment. 
Results  of  the  system  upon  the  laity, 
Results  upon  the  clergy. 
State  of  religion  under  the  hierarchy. 


281 
282 

284 
290 
303 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Patriarchal  and  the  Papal  Government,  .        .        .  309 

Patriarchal  government, 309 

Papal  government, .        .  310 

Remarks  on  ancient  prelacy, 314 

CHAPTER  XL 

Prayers  of  the  Primitive  Church, 321 

The  use  of  forms  of  prayer  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the 

Christian  dispensation, 321 

Opposed  to  the  example  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,    .         .  323 

„               Unauthorized  by  the  instructions  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  325 

Wh           The  Lord's  prayer  not  a  form, 330 

L 


a;il  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Forms  of  prayer  opposed  to  the  freedom  of  primitive  worship,  331 

Unknown  in  the  primitive  church,      .....  334 

Remarks  on  liturgies, 353 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Psalmody  of  the  Primitive  Church, 363 

Argument  from  reason, 363 

"  from  analogy, 364 

"  from  Scripture, 364 

"  from  history, 366 

Mode  of  singing, 370 

Changes  in  the  psalmody  of  the  church,     ....  375 

Remarks  on  congregational  singing, 379 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Homilies  in  the  Primitive  Church, 391 

Discourses  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,         ....  391 

Scriptural  exposition, 397 

Homilies  in  the  Greek  church, 400 

Homilies  in  the  Latin  church, 405 

Episcopacy  an  incumbrance  to  the  preacher,       .         .        .  408 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Benediction, 412 

Origin  and  import  of  the  rite, 412 

Mode  of  administering  it, 418 

Superstitious  perversions  of  the  benediction,      .         .         .419 

Appendix, 427 

Scriptural  Index, 443 

Index  of  Authorities, 444 

General  Index, 448 


INTEODUCTION, 


Dr.  AUGUSTUS  NEANDER, 

PROFESSOR    OF    THEOLOGY  IN    THE    UNIVERSITY  OF    BERLIN,  CONSIS- 
TORIAL   COUNSELLOR,  ET€. 


In  compliance  with  the  request  of  my  wortTiy  friend, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Coleman,  I  am  happy  to  accompany  his  pro- 
posed work,  on  the  Constitution  and  Worship  of  the  apos- 
tdical  and  primitive  church,  with  some  preliminary  remarks, 
I  regard  it  as  one  of  the  remarkable  signs  of  the  times,  that 
Christians,  separated  from  each  other  by  land  and  by  sea,  by 
language  and  government,  are  becoming  more  closely  united 
in  the  consciousness  that  they  are  only  different  members  of 
one  universal  church,  grounded  and  built  on  the  rock  Christ 
Jesus.  And  it  is  with  the  hope  of  promoting  this  catholic 
union,  that  I  gladly  improve  this  opportunity  to  address  my 
Christian  brethren  beyond  the  waters,  on  some  important 
subjects  of  common  interest  to  the  church  of  Christ. 

This  is  not  the  proper  place  to  express  in  detail,  and  to 
defend  my  own  views  upon  the  controverted  topics  which, 
as  I  have  reason  to  expect  from  the  respected  author,  will 
be  the  subject  of  an  extended,  thorough  and  impartial  ex- 
amination in  his  proposed  work.  My  own  sentiments  have 
2 


14  INTRODUCTION.  ^.^ 

already  been  expressed,  in  a  work  which,  I  am  happy  to 
learn,  is  offered  to  the  English  reader  in  a  translation  by  my 
friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ryland,  of  Northampton,  in  England.i 
I  have  only  time  and  space,  in  this  place,  briefly  to  express 
the  results  of  former  inquiries,  which,  with  the  reasons  for 
them,  have  on  other  occasions  already  been  given  to  the 
public. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  to  keep  ever  in  view  the 
difference  between  the  economy  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
that  of  the  New.  The  neglect  of  this  has  given  rise  to 
the  grossest  errors,  and  to  divisions,  by  which  those  who 
ought  to  be  united  together  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  love, 
have  been  sundered  from  each  other.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, everything  relating  to  the  kingdom  of  God  was  esti- 
mated by  outward  forms ^  and  promoted  by  specific  external 
rites.  In  the  New,  everything  is  made  to  depend  upon  what 
is  internal  and  spiritual.  Other  foundation,  as  the  apostle 
Paul  has  said,  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid.  Upon  this 
the  Christian  church  at  first  was  grounded,  and  upon  this 
alone,  in  all  time  to  come,  must  it  be  reared  anew  and 
compacted  together.  Faith  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Sa- 
viour of  the  world,  and  union  with  him,  a  participation  in 
that  salvation  which  cometh  through  him,  —  this  is  that  in- 
ward principle,  that  unchangeable  foundation,  on  which  the 
Christian  church  essentially  rests.  But  whenever,  instead 
of  making  the  existence  of  the  church  to  depend  on  this  in- 

^  History  of  the  Planting  and  Training  of  the  Christian  Church,  by 
the  Apostles,  by  Dr.  A.  Neander,  Ordinary  Professor  of  Theology, 
in  the  University  of  Berlin,  Consistorial  Counsellor;  translated  from 
the  third  edition,  by  J.  £.  Ryland. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

ward  principle  alone,  the  necessity  of  some  outward  form  is 
asserted  as  an  indispensable  means  of  grace,  we  readily  per- 
ceive that  the  purity  of  its  character  is  impaired.  The  spirit 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  commingled  with  that  of  the  New. 
Neither  Christ  nor  the  apostles,  have  given  any  unchangea- 
ble law  on  the  subject.  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  says  Christ,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of 
them.  This  coming  together  in  his  name,  he  assures  us, 
alone  renders  the  assembly  well  pleasing  in  his  sight,  what- 
ever be  the  different  forms  of  government  under  which  his 
people  meet. 

The  apostle  Paul  says  indeed,  Eph.  4:  11,  that  Christ 
gave  to  the  church  certain  offices,  through  which  he  opera- 
ted with  his  Spirit,  and  its  attendant  gifts.  But  assuredly 
Paul  did  not  mean  to  say  that  Christ,  during  his  abode  on 
earth,  appointed  these  offices  in  the  church,  or  authorized 
the  form  of  government  that  was  necessarily  connected  with 
them.  All  the  offices  here  mentioned,  with  the  single  ex- 
ception of  that  of  the  apostles,  were  instituted  by  the  apos- 
tles themselves,  after  our  Lord's  ascension.  In  making 
these  appointments,  they  acted,  as  they  did  in  everything 
else,  only  as  the  organs  of  Christ.  Paul,  therefore,  very 
justly  ascribes  to  Christ  himself  what  was  done  by  the  apos- 
tles in  this  instance  as  his  agents.  But  the  apostles  them- 
selves have  given  no  law,  requiring  that  any  such  form  of 
government  as  is  indicated  in  this  passage  should  be  per- 
petual. Under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  gave 
the  church  this  particular  organization,  which,  while  it  was 
best  adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  relations  of  the 
church  at  that  time,  was  also  best  suited  to  the  extension  of 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

the  churches  in  their  peculiar  condition,  and  for  the  devel- 
opment of  the  inward  principles  of  their  communion.  But 
forms  rnay  change  with  eyerj  change  of  circumstances. 
Many  of  the  offices  mentioned  in  that  passage,  either  were 
entirely  unknown  at  a  later  period,  or  existed  in  relations 
one  to  another  entirely  new.2 

Whenever  at  a  later  period,  also,  any  form  of  church  gov- 
ernment has  arisen  out  of  a  series  of  events  according  to 
the  direction  of  divine  providence,  and  is  organized  and 
governed  with  regard  to  the  Lord's  will,  he  may  be  said, 
himself,  to  have  established  it,  and  to  operate  through  it,  by 
his  Spirit ;  without  which  nothing  pertaining  to  the  church 

2  One  peculiar  office,  that  of  the  prophets,  in  process  of  time  ceas- 
ed in  the  church,  while  something  analogous  to  the  gift  of  prophecy 
still  remained ;  indeed  it  might  be  easily  shown  that  the  prophetic 
office  continued  at  that  early  period,  so  long  as  it  was  necessary  for 
the  establishment  of  the  Christian  church,  under  its  peculiar  exigen- 
cies and  relations.  Pastors  and  teachers  are  mentioned  in  this  pas- 
sage, in  the  same  connection.  Their  office,  which  related  to  the 
government  of  particular  churches,  is  distinguished  from  that  of 
those  who  had  been  mentioned  before,  and  whose  immediate  object 
was  the  extension  of  the  Christian  church  in  general.  And  yet  a 
distinction  is  also  made  between  these  pastors  and  teachers,  inasmuch 
as  the  qualifications  for  the  outward  government  of  the  church, 
xv^tQvrjGig,  were  diffisrent  from  those  which  were  requisite  for  the 
guidance  of  the  church  by  the  preaching  of  the  word,  SiSaoxakia. 
The  first  belonged  especially  to  the  presbj^^ters  or  bishops  who  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  organization  for  the  outward  government  of  the 
church.  Certain  it  is,  at  least,  that  they  did  not  all  possess  the  gift 
of  teaching  as  SiSdoxaXoij  teachers.  On  the  other  hand,  there  may 
have  been  persons  endowed  with  the  gift  of  teaching,  and  qualified 
thus  to  be  teachers,  who  still  belonged  not  to  the  class  of  presbyters. 
The  relations  of  these  offices  to  one  another  seem  not  to  have  been 
the  same  in  all  stages  of  the  development  of  the  apostolical  churches. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

can  prosper.  The  great  principles  which  are  given  by  the 
apostle,  in  the  passage  before  us,  for  the  guidance  of  the 
church, — these,  and  these  only,  remain  unchangeably  the 
same ;  because  they  are  immediately  connected  with  the 
nature  of  the  Christian  church,  as  a  spiritual  community. 
All  else  is  mutable.  The  form  of  the  church  remained  not 
the  same,  even  through  the  whole  course  of  the  apostolic 
age,  from  the  first  descent  of  the  Spirit,  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, to  the  death  of  John  the  apostle.  Particular  forms 
of  church  government  may  be  more  or  less  suited  to  the 
nature  of  the  Christian  church ;  and  we  may  add,  no  one 
is  absolutely  perfect,  neither  are  all  alike  good  under  all 
circumstances.  Would  then  that  all,  in  their  strivings  after 
forms  of  church  government,  would  abide  fast  by  those 
which  they  believe  to  be  best  adapted  to  promote  their  own 
spiritual  edification,  and  which  they  may  have  found,  by  ex- 
perience, to  be  best  suited  to  the  wants  of  their  own  Chris- 
tian community.  Only  let  them  not  seek  to  impose  upon  all 
Christians  any  one  form  as  indispensably  necessary.  Only 
let  them  remember,  that  the  upbuilding  of  the  church  of 
Christ  may  be  carried  on  under  other  forms  also ;  and  that 
the  same  Spirit,  on  which  the  existence  of  the  church  de- 
pends, can  as  truly  operate  in  other  churches  as  in  their  own. 
Would  that  Congregationalists,  Presbyterians  and  Episco- 
palians, Calvinists  and  Lutherans,  would  abide  by  that  only 
unchangeable  foundation  which  Christ  has  laid.  Would 
that  on  such  a  foundation,  which  no  man  can  lay,  they  would 
meet  as  brethren  in  Christ,  acknowledging  each  other  as 
members  of  one  catholic  church,  and  organs  of  the  same 
2* 


# 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


Spirit,  co-operating  together  for  the  promotion  of  the  great 
ends  indicated  by  the  apostle  Paul  in  Eph.  4 :  13 — 16. 

It  must,  indeed,  be  of  great  importance  to  examine  im- 
partially the  relations  of  the  apostolical  church ;  for,  at  this 
time,  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  through  the  apostles,  wrought  in 
its  purest  influence  ;  by  which  means  the  mingliiig  of  foreign 
elements  was  prevented  in  the  development  of  this  system 
of  ecclesiastical  polity.  In  this  respect  we  must  all  admit 
that  the  apostolical  church  commends  itself  to  us  as  a 
model  of  church  government.  But,  in  the  first  place,  let 
us  remember,  agreeably  to  what  has  already  been  said,  that 
not  all  the  forms  of  church  government  which  were  adapted 
to  the  exigencies  of  the  church  at  this  early  period,  can  be 
received  as  patterns  for  the  church  at  other  times ;  neither 
can  the  imitation  be  pressed  too  far.  Let  us  remember,  that 
it  is  only  that  same  Spirit  which  is  imparted  to  us  through 
the  intervention  of  the  apostles,  which,  at  all  times,  and 
under  all  possible  relations,  will  direct  to  the  most  appro- 
priate and  most  efficient  form  of  government,  if,  in  humility 
and  sincerity,  we  surrender  ourselves  up  to  its  teaching  and 
guidance.  And  secondly,  let  us  remember,  that,  after  true 
and  faithful  inquiry  on  these  subjects,  men  may  honestly  dif- 
fer in  their  views  on  those  minor  points,  without  interrupting 
the  higher  communion  of  faith  and  love. 

In  the  apostolical  church  there  was  one  office  which  bears 
no  resemblance  to  any  other,  and  to  which  none  can  be 
made  to  conform.  This  jsjheoffice  of  the  apostles.  They 
stand  as  the  medium  of  communication  between  Christ  and 
the  whole  Christian  church,  to  transmit  his  word  and  his 
Spirit  through  all  ages.     In  this  respect  the  church  must 


M 


INTRODUCTION-  19 

ever  continue  to  acknowledge  her  dependence  upon  them, 
and  to  own  their  rightful  authority.  Their  authority  and 
power  can  be  delegated  to  none  other.  But  the  service 
which  the  apostles  themselves  sought  to  confer,  was  to  trans- 
mit to  men  the  word  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and,  by 
this  means,  to  establish  independent  Christian,  communities. 
These  communities,  when  once  established,  they  refused  to 
hold  in  a  state  of  slavish  dependence  upon  themselves.  Their 
object  was,  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  to  make  the  churches  free, 
and  independent  of  their  guidance.  To  the  churches  their 
language  was,  "  Ye  beloved,  ye  are  made  free,  be  ye  the  ser- 
vants of  no  man."  The_ churches _jvere,Jai^^ 
themselves.  All  the  members  were  made  to  co-operate  to- 
gether as  organs  of  one  Spirit,  in  connection  with  which 
spiritual  gifts  were  imparted  to  each  as  he  might  need.  Thus 
they,  whose  prerogative  it  was  to  rule  among  the  brethren, 
demeaned  themselves  as  the  servants  of  Christ  and  his  church. 
They  acted  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  his  church,  as  the 
organs  of  that  Spirit  with  which  all  were  inspired,  and  from 
which  they  derived  the  consciousness  of  their  mutual  Chris- 
tian fellowship. 

The  brethren  chose  their  o\m  officers J^om  among,  thern- 
selves.  Or  if,  in  the  first  organization  of  the  churches, 
their  officers  were  appointed  by  the  apostles,  it  was  with 
the  approbation  of  the  members  of  the  same.  The  general 
concerns  of  the  chucQ^h^were  ,m_^aaged^h^4llg_a2osU^^^^  in 
connection  with  their  brethren  in  the  church,  to  whom  they 
also  addressed Jlheir  eg>isUes. 

The  earliest  constitution  of  the  church  was  modelled,  for 
the  most  part,  after  that  religious  community  with  which  it 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

stood  in  closest  connection,  and  to  which  it  was  most  as- 
similated— the  Jewish^synagogue.  This,  however,  was  so 
modified  as  to  conform  to  the  nature  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity, and  to  the  new  and  peculiar  spirit  with  which  it 
was  animated.  Like  the  synagogue,  the  church  was  gov- 
erned by  an  associated  body  of  men  appointed  for  thjs  pur- 
pose. 

The  name  of  presbyters,  which  was  appropriated  to  this 
body,  was  derived  from  the  Jewish  synagogue.  But  in  the 
Gentile  churches,  formed  by  the  apostle  Paul,  they  took  the 
name  of  iTzioxoTZoi,  bishops,  a  term  more  significant  of  their 
office  in  the  language  generally  spoken  by  the  members  of 
these  churches.  The  name  of  presbyters  denoted  the  digni- 
ty of  their  office.  That  of  bishops,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
expressive  rather  of  the  nature  of  their  office,  miaaoneiv 
Tt]v  ixxX7]aiav,  to  take  the  oversight  of  the  church.  Most 
certainly  no  other  distinction  originally  existed  between  them. 
But,  in  process  of  time,  some  one,  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
events,  would  gradually  obtain  the  pre-eminence  over._his 
colleagues,  and  by  reason  of  that  peculiar  oversight  which 
he  exercised  over  the  whole  community,  might  come  to  be 
designated  by  the  name  imaxoTtog,  bishop,  which  was  origi- 
nally applied  to  them  all  indiscriminately.  The  constant 
tumults,  from  within  and  from  without,  which  agitated  the 
church  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  may  have  given  to  such 
a  one  opportunity  to  exercise  his  influence  the  more  efficient- 
ly; so  that,  at  such  a  time,  the  controlling  influence  of  one 
in  this  capacity  may  have  been  vej[y  salutary  to  the  church. 
This  change  in  the  relation  of  the  presbyters  to  each  other 
was  not  the  same  in  all  the  churches,  but  varied  according 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

to  their  different  circumstances.  It  may  have  been  as  early 
as  the  latter  part  of  the  life  of  John,  when  he  was  sole  sur- 
vivor of  the  other  apostles,  that  one,  as  president  of  this  body 
of  presbyters,  was  distinguished  by  the  name  of  iniGKonog, 
bishop.  There  is,  however,  no  evidence  that  the  apostle 
himself  introduced  this  change ;  much  less,  that  he  autho- 
rized it  as  a  perpetual  ordinance  for  the  future.  Such  an 
ordinance  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  that  apostle.3 
This  change  in  the  mode  of  administering  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church,  resulting  from  peculiar  circumstances, 
may  have  been  introduced  as  a  salutary  expedient,  without 
implying  any  departure  from  the  purity  of  the  Christian 
spirit.  When,  however,  the  doctrine  is,  as  it  gradually  gain- 
ed currency  in  the  third  century, — that  the  bishops  are,  by 
divine  right,  the  head  of  the  church,  and  invested  with  the 
government  of  the  same;  that  they  are  the  successors  of 
the  apostles,  and  by  this  succession  inherit  apostolical  au- 

3  In  the  angels  of  the  churches  in  the  seven  epistles  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, I  cannot  recognize  the  -liiiair  'rvh'V  of  the  Jewish  synagogue 
transferred  to  the  Christian  church.  The  application  appears  to  me 
to  be  altogether  arbitrary.  Nor  again  can  I  discover  in  the  angel  of 
the  church,  the  bishop,  addressed  as  the  representative  of  this  body 
of  believers.  How  much  must  we  assume  as  already  proved,  which 
yet  is  entirely  without  evidence,  in  assigning  to  this  early  period  the 
rise  of  such  a  monarchical  system  of  government,  that  the  bishop  alone 
can  be  put  in  the  place  of  the  whole  church  ?  In  this  phraseology  1 
recognize  rather  a  symbolical  application  of  the  idea  of  guardian  an- 
gels, similar  to  that  of  the  Ferver  of  the  Parsees,  as  a  symbolical  rep- 
resentation and  image  of  the  whole  church.  Such  a  figurative  rep- 
resentation corresponds  well  with  the  poetical  and  symbolical  char- 
acter of  the  book  throughout.  It  is  also  expressly  said  that  the  ad- 
dress is  to  the  whole  body  of  the  churches. 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

thority;  that  they  are  the  medium  through  which,  in  con- 
sequence of  that  ordination  which  they  have  received,  mere- 
ly in  an  outward  manner,  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  all  time  to  come, 
must  be  transmitted  to  the  church — when  this  becomes  the 
doctrine  of  the  church,  we  certainly  must  perceive,  in  these 
assumptions,  a  strong  corruption  of  the  purity  of  the  Chris- 
tian system.  It  is  a  carnal  perversion  of  the  true  idea  of 
the  Christian  church.  It  is  falling  back  into  the  spirit  of 
the  Jewish  religion.  Instead  of  the  Christian  idea  of  a 
church,  based  on  inward  principles  of  communion,  and  ex- 
tending itself  by  means  of  these,  it  presents  us  with  the  image 
of  one,  like  that  under  the  Old  Testament,  resting  in  out- 
ward ordinances,  and,  by  external  rites,  seeking  to  promote 
the  propagation  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  entire  per- 
version of  the  original  view  of  the  Christian  church  was  itself 
the  origin  of  the  whole  system  of  the  Roman  Catholic  reli- 
gion,— the  germ  from  which  sprung  the  popery  of  the  dark 
\  ages. 

We  hold,  indeed,  no  controversy  with  that  class  of  Epis- 
copalians who  adhere  to  the  Episcopal  system  above  men- 
tioned as  well  adapted,  in  their  opinion,  to  the  exigencies  of 
their  church.  We  would  live  in  harmony  with  them,  not- 
withstanding their  mistaken  views  of  the  true  form  of  the 
church,  provided  they  denounce  not  other  systems  of  church 
government.  But  the  doctrine  of  the  absolute  necessity  of 
the  Episcopal  as  the  only  valid  form  of  government,  and  of 
the  Episcopal  succession  of  bishops  above  mentioned,  in 
order  to  a  participation  in  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  all  this  we 
must  recrard  as  something  foreign  to  the  true  idea  of  the 
Christian  church.     It  is  in  direct  conflict  with  the  spirit  of 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

protestantism;  and  is  the  origin,  not  of  the  true  Catholicism 
of  the  apostle,  but  of  that  of  the  Romish  church.  When, 
therefore.  Episcopalians  disown,  as  essentially  deficient  in 
their  ecclesiastical  organization,  other  protestant  churches 
which  evidently  have  the  spirit  of  Christ,  it  only  remains  for 
us  to  protest,  in  the  strongest  terms,  against  their  setting  up 
such  a  standard  of  perfection  for  the  Christian  church.  Far 
be  it  from  us,  who  began  with  Luther  in  the  spirit,  that  we 
should  now  desire  to  be  made  perfect  by  the  flesh.   Gal.  3 :  3. 

Dr.  a.  Neander. 
Berlin,  April  28th,  1843. 


THE  PRIMITIVE   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SUMMARY    VIEW. 

The  Christian  church  derived  its  earliest  form  from  a 
small  society  of  believers,  who  were  united  together  by  no 
law  but  that  of  the  love  which  they  felt  to  one  another,  and 
to  their  common  Lord.i  After  his  ascension,  they  continued 
to  meet,  in  singleness  of  heart,  for  the  mutual  interchange 
of  sympathy  and  love,  and  for  the  worship  of  their  Lord  and 
Master.  The  government  which,  in  process  of  time,  the 
fraternity  adopted  for  themselves,  was  free  and  voluntary. 
Each  individual  church  possessed  the  rights  and  powers  in- 
herent in  an  independent  popular  assembly ;  or,  to  adopt  the 
language  of  another,  "  The  right  to  enact  their  laws,  and  the  ( 
entire  government  of  the  church,  was  vested  in  each  individ- 
ual association  of  which  the  church  was  composed,  and  was, 
exercised  by  the  members  of  the  same,  in  connection  with 
their  overseers  and  teachers,  and,  when  the  apostles  were 
present,  in  common  also  with  them. "2  This  general  exposi- 
tion of  the  government  of  the  primitive  church,  it  will  be  our 

^  Neander's  Apost.  Kirch.  Vol.  I.  c.  1.    Rothe,  Anfange  der  Christ. 
Kirch.  1.  S.  141—2. 
2  Cited  in  Allgemeine  Kirch.  Zeitung,  1833.  No.  103. 
3 


26  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

business  to  illustrate  and  defend  in  the  following  pages. 
The  course  of  our  inquiries  will  lead  us  to  examine  the  pop- 
ular,.gQj:erJa.ipent  of  the  apostolicd  and  primitiyejchurch,  to 
trace  the  gradual  extinction  of  this  form  of  government,  and 
the  rise  of  the  Episcopal  system ;  and  also  to  consider  the 
simplicity  of  primitive  worship  in  its  several  parts. 

The  arguments  for  the  popular  government  of  the  apostol- 
ical and  primitive  church  may  be  arranged  under  the  ibllow- 
ing  heads. 

1.  It  harmonizes  with  the  primitive  simplicity  of  all  forms 
of  government. 

The  multiplication  of  offices,  the  adjustment  of  the  gra- 
dations of  rank  and  power,  and  a  complicated  system  of 
rites  and  forms,  are  the  work  of  time.  At  first,  the  rules  of 
government,  however  administered,  are  few  and  simple. 
The  early  Christians,  especially,  associating  together  in  the 
confidence  of  mutual  love,  and  uniting  in  sincerity  of  heart 
for  the  worship  of  God,  may  fairly  be  presumed  to  have 
had  only  a  few  conventional  rules  for  the  regulation  of 
their  fraternity. 

2.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  only  organization  which  the  church 
could  safely  have  formed,  at  that  time,  under  the  Roman 
government. 

Without  any  established  religion,  the  Romans  tolerated 
indeed,  different  religious  sects,  and  might  have  extended 
the  same  indulgence  to  the  primitive  Christians.  But  they 
looked  with  suspicion  upon  every  organization  of  party  or 
sect,  as  treason  against  the  state,  and  punished  with  cruel 
jealousy  every  indication  of  a  confederacy  within  the  empire. 
The  charge  of  treasonable  intentions  prevailed  with  the 
Roman  governor  against  our  Lord.  And  under  Trajan,  A. 
D.  103,  a  bloody  persecution  was  commenced  against  the 
church,  on  the  suspicion  that  it  might  be  a  secret  society, 
formed  for  seditious  purposes.     Under  these  circumstances. 


t 


SUMMARY  VIEW.  27 

it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  a  diocesan  consolidation  of  the 
churches  established  by  the  apostles,  could  have  been  effected 
without  bringing  down  upon  them  the  vengeance  of  the  Ro- 
man government,  to  crush,  at  the  outset,  a  coalition  to  it 
so  obnoxious.  Their  apparently  harmless  and  informal  as- 
semblies, and  the  total  absence  of  all  connection,  one  with 
another,  was,  according  to  Planck  and  many  others,  the 
means  of  saving  the  early  churches  so  long  and  so  extensively 
from  the  exterminating  sword  of  Roman  jealousy .3 

Crevit  occulto,  velut  arbor,  aevo. 

3.  Such  an  organization  must  have  been  formed,  it  would 
seem,  in  order  to  unite  the  discordant  parties  in  the  primitive 
churches. 

Here  was  the  Jew,  the  Greek,  the  Roman,  and  Barbari- 
ans of  every  form  of  superstition;  converts,  indeed,  to  faith 
in  Christ,  but  with  all  their  partialities  and  prejudices  still. 
What  but  a  voluntary  principle,  guaranteeing  to  all  the  free- 
dom of  a  popular  assembly,  could  unite  these  parties  in  one 
fraternity  ?  Our  Lord  himself  employed  no  artificial  bands 
to  bind  his  followers  together  into  a  permanent  body ;  and 
they  were  alienated  from  him  upon  the  slightest  offence. 
The  apostles  had  still  less  to  bind  their  adherents  firmly  to 
themselves.  It  required  all  their  wisdom  and  address  to  re- 
concile the  discordant  prejudices  of  their  converts,  and  unite 
them  in  harmonious  fellowship  one  with  another.  This  dif- 
ficulty met  the  apostles  at  the  outset  of  their  ministry,  in  the 
murmuring  of  the  Greeks  against  the  Jews,  that  their  wid- 
ows were  neglected  in  the  daily  ministration.  This  mutual 
jealousy  was  a  continual  trial  besetting  them  on  every  side, 
from  the  churches  which  they  had  formed.  Under  such 
circumstances,  they  assumed  not  the  responsibility  of  settling 
these  controversies  by  apostolical  or  Episcopal  authority;  but 
by  their  counsel  and  persuasion,  they  sought  to  obviate  the 

3  Gesellschafts-Verfass,  I.  S.  40—50. 


28  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

prejudices  of  their  brethren.  Everything  relating  to  the  in- 
terests of  each  church  they  left  to  be  publicly  discussed,  and 
decided  by  mutual  consent.  In  this  manner  they  quieted 
these  complaints  of  the  Greeks  respecting  the  distribution  of 
alms.  Acts  6 :  1 — 8.  And  such,  no  doubt,  became  their 
settled  policy  in  their  care  of  the  churches.  Even  the 
apostles  were  not  exempt  from  these  infirmities  and  misun- 
derstandings, and  might  have  found  no  small  difficulty  in 
arranging  among  themselves  a  more  artificial  and  complica- 
ted system  of  church  government.^ 

4.  The  same  is  inferred  from  the  existence  of  popular 
rights  and  privileges  in  the  early  periods  of  the  Christian 
church. 

It  is  knou'n  to  every  one  at  all  acquainted  with  the  early 
history  of  the  church,  that  from  the  second  century  down  to 
the  final  triumph  of  papacy,  there  was  a  strong  and  increas- 
ing tendency  to  exalt  and  extend  the  authority  of  the  clergy, 
and  to  curtail  and  depress  that  of  the  people.  The  fact  is 
undeniable.  But  how  shall  it  be  explained  ?  If  a  prelati- 
cal  form  of  organization  was  divinely  appointed  by  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  vesting  in  the  clergy  alone  the  right  of  gov- 
ernment, and  if  the  tide  of  clerical  encroachment  ran  so 
steadily  and  strongly  from  the  first,  then  it  is  inconceiv- 
able, how,  under  these  circumstances,  the  doctrine  of  pop- 
ular rights  should  ever  have  obtained  such  a  footing  in  the 
church,  as  to  maintain  itself  for  centuries  against  the  influ- 
ences of  a  jealous  and  oppressive  hierarchy.  Had  the  doc- 
trine of  the  popular  rights  been  totally  lost  in  the  second 
and  third  centuries,  this  would  by  no  means  warrant  the  in- 
ference that  such  rights  were  unknown  in  the  days  of  the 

*  Schroeter  unci  Klein,  FOr  Christenthum  Oppositionsschrift,  I.  S. 
567.  Siegel,  Handbuch,  II.  455 — 6.  Arnold,  Wahre-Abbildung  der 
Ersten  Christen,  B.  II.  c.  5,  seq.  Schoene,  Geschichtsforschungen 
d.  Kirch.  Gebrauch.  I.  S.  234—5. 


» 


SUMMARY  VIEW.  >S9 

apostles.  They  might  have  all  been  swept  away  by  the  ir- 
resistible tide  of  clerical  influence  and  authority.  But  they 
were  not  lost.  They  were  recognized  even  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries,  and  long  after  the  hierarchy  was  estab- 
lished in  connection  with  the  state,  and  its  authority  enforced 
by  imperial  power.  Were  not  the  rights  of  the  people  es- 
tablished by  Christ  and  the  apostles  ?  If  not,  how  could 
they  have  come  in  and  maintained  their  ground  against  the 
current  that  continually  ran  with  such  strength  in  the  oppo- 
site direction  ? 

5.  A  popular  form  of  church  government  harmonizes 
with  the  spirit,  the  instructions,  and  the  example  of  Christ. 

(a)  With  his  spirit.  He  was  of  a  meek  and  lowly  spirit, 
unostentatious  and  unassuming.  He  shrank  from  the  de- 
monstrations of  power,  and  refused  the  titles  and  honors 
that,  at  times,  were  pressed  upon  his  acceptance.  With 
such  a  spirit,  that  religious  system  must  be  congenial,  which, 
without  any  parade  of  titles  and  of  rank,  has  few  offices, 
and  little  to  excite  the  pride  or  tempt  the  ambition  of  man. 

(6)  With  his  instructions.  Ye  know  that  the  princes  of 
the  Gentiles  exercise  dominion  over  them,  and  they  that  are 
great  exercise  authority  upon  them,  but  it  shall  not  be  so 
among  you  ;  but  whosoever  will  be  great  among  you,  let  him 
be  your  minister  ;  and  whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you, 
let  him  be  your  servant ;  even  as  the  Son  of  man  came,  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a 
ransom  for  many.  Matt.  20:  25 — 28.  Comp.  Mark  10: 
42—45. 

(c)  With  his  example.  This  was  in  perfect  coincidence 
with  his  instructions,  and  a  striking  illustration  of  his  spirit. 
His  life  was  a  pattern  of  humility,  of  untiring,  unostentatious 
benevolence.  He  condescended  to  the  condition  of  all ; 
and,  as  one  of  the  latest  and  most  expressive  acts  of  his  life, 
washed  his  disciples'  feet,  giving  them  an  example  for  their 
3* 


30  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

imitation,  as  the  servants  of  all  men.  Has  such  a  spirit  its 
just  expression  in  a  hierarchy,  which  has  often  dishonored 
the  religion  of  Christ  by  the  display  of  princely  pomp,  and 
the  assumption  of  regal  and  imperial  power?  5 

6.  It  equally  accords  with  the  spirit,  the  instructions,  and 
the  example  of  the  apostles. 

(a)  With  their  spirit.  They  had  renounced  their  hopes 
of  aggrandizement  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  had  im- 
bibed much  of  his  spirit.  The  world  took  knowledge  of 
them  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus,  and  had  learned  of  him, 
who  was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart.  They  accounted  them- 
selves the  least  of  all  saints,  and  the  servants  of  all.  This 
spirit,  it  would  seem,  must  be  foreign  from  the  distinctions 
of  rank  and  of  office,  as  well  as  from  the  authority  and 
power  which  are  inherent  in  every  form  of  the  Episcopal 
system. 

(6)  With  their  instructions.  These  were  in  coincidence 
with  those  of  their  Master.  The  servant  of  the  Lord  must 
not  strive,  but  be  gentle  unto  all  men ;  apt  to  teach ;  patient 
(under  injuries) ;  in  meekness  instructing  those  that  oppose 
themselves.  2  Tim.  2:  24—25.  Who  then  is  Paul,  and 
who  is  Apollos,  but  ministers  by  whom  ye  believed,  even  as 
the  Lord  gave  to  every  man?  1  Cor.  3:  5.  They  disowned 
personal  authority  over  the  church;  and  instructed  the  elders 
not  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage,  but  to  be  examples  to  the 
flock.  I  Pet.  5:  3.  If,  in  the  discharge  of  his  ministry,  one 
has  occasion  to  reprove  sin  in  an  elder,  this  he  is  charged, 
before  God  and  the  elect  angels,  to  do  with  all  circumspec- 
tion, without  prejudice  or  partiality.  1  Tim.  5:  2L 

(t)  With  their  example.  '  This  is  the  best  comment  upon 
their  instructions,  and  the  clearest  indication  of  that  organ- 

*  The  French  infidels  have  an  expression  relating  to  our  Saviour, 
which,  though  impious  and  profane,  clearly  indicates  the  nature  of 
his  instructions  and  example, — '■'■  Jesus  Christ,  the  great  Democrat." 


SUMMARY  VIEW.  31 

ization  which  the  church  received  at  their  hands.  They  ex- 
ercised, indeed,  a  controlling  influence  over  the  several 
churches  which  they  established,  as  an  American  missionary 
does  in  organizing  his  Christian  converts  into  a  church, 
while  he  constitutes  them  a  popular  assembly  under  a  Con- 
gregational or  Presbyterian  form.  In  like  manner,  it  is  ob- 
servable, that  the  apostles  studiously  declined  the  exercise  of 
prelatical  or  Episcopal  authority.  ^  But  the  control  which 
they  at  first  exercised  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the 
church  was  no  part  of  their  office.  It  was  only  a  temporary 
expedient,  resulting  from  the  necessity  of  the  case.  Accord- 
ingly, they  carefully  disclaimed  the  official  exercise  of  all 
clerical  authority ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  circumstances  of  the 
churches  would  admit,  they  submitted  to  each  the  administra- 
tion of  its  own  government.  In  this  manner,  they  gave  to 
the  churches  the  character  of  voluntary,  deliberative  assem- 
blies, invested  with  the  rights  and  privileges  of  religious 
liberty.  In  support  of  this  position  we  have  to  offer  the  fol- 
lowing considerations  : 

(a)  They  addressed  the  members  of  the  church  as  hreth' 
rcn  and  sisters,  and  fellow-laborers.  I  would  not  have  you 
ignorant,  brethren,  that  oftentimes,  I  purposed  to  come  unto 
you.  Rom.  1:  13.  And  I,  brethren,  when  I  came  unto  you, 
came  not  in  excellency  of  speech.  1  Cor.  2:  1.  I  commend 
unto  you  Phebe,  our  sister.  Rom.  16:  1.  The  same  famil- 
iar, affectionate  style  of  address  runs  through  all  the  epistles, 
showing  in  what  consideration  the  apostles  held  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  "  The  apostles  severally  were  very  far 
from  placing  themselves  in  a  relation  that  bore  any  analogy 
to  a  mediating  priesthood.      In  this   respect   they   always 

«  Flanck,  Gesellschafts-Verfass.,  1.  S.  39.  Spittler,  Can.  Recht, 
c.  1.  §  3.  Pertsch,  Can.  Recht,  c.  1.  §  5—8.  Siegel,  Kirchliche 
Verfassungsformen,  in  Handbuch,  11.  S.  455.  Pertsch,  Kirch. 
Hist.  I.  S.  15G— 170,  362—370. 


32  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

placed  themselves  on  a  footing  of  equality.  If  Paul  assured 
them  of  his  intercessory  prayers  for  them,  he  in  return  re- 
quested their  prayers  for  himself"  "'' 

{§)  The  apostles  remonstrate  with  the  members  of  the 
church  as  with  brethren,  instead  of  rebuking  them  authorita- 
tively. Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that 
there  be  no  divisions  among  you.  1  Cor.  1:  10.  Furthermore, 
then,  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  and  exhort  you.  1  Thess.  4: 
1.  My  brethren,  have  not  the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Lord  of  glory,  with  respect  of  persons.  James  2: 
1.  They  spoke  not  by  commandment,  but  in  the  language 
of  mutual  counsellors.    1  Cor.  11:  13 — 16.8 

(y)  They  treated  with  the  church  as  an  independent  body, 
competent  to  judge  and  act  for  itself  They  appealed 
to  the  judgment  of  their  brethren  personally.  1  Cor.  11:  13 
— 16.  1  Thess.  5:  21.  They  reported  their  own  doings  to 
the  church,  as  if  amenable  to  that  body.  Acts  11:  1 — 18.  14: 
26,  27,  and  exhorted  the  brethren  to  hold  their  teachers  un- 
der their  watch  and  discipline.  Rom.  16:  17. 

(8)  They  exhorted  the  churches  to  deeds  of  charity  and 
benevolence;  but  submitted  to  each  the  disposal  of  his  goods 
and  his  charities.  Acts  5:  4.  11:  29,  30,  etc.  1  Cor.  16:  1, 
seq.     2  Cor.  9:  1  seq. 

(e)  They  addressed  their  epistles,  not  to  the  pastors  of  the 
churches,  but  to  the  churches,  or  to  the  churches  and  pastors 
collectively,  giving  precedence,  in  some  instances,  to  the 
church.  Phil.  1:  1.  Even  the  epistles  which  treat  of  contro- 
verted ecclesiastical  matters,  are  addressed,  not  to  the  bish- 
ops and  presbyters,  but  to  the  wJiole  body  of  believers,  indi- 
cating that  the  decision  belonged  to  them.     Had  it  been  oth- 

7  Neander,  Apostol.  Kirch.,  I.  p.  161,  3d  edit.;  and  in  the  sequel 
much  more  to  the  same  effect. 

8  Comp.  Socrates,  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  5.  c.  22. 


SUMMARY   VIEW.  33 

erwise,  would  not  such  instructions  and  advice  have  been 
given  to  the  ministers  of  the  churches  P 

(^)  They  recognize  the  right  of  the  churches  to  send  out 
their  own  religious  teachers  and  messengers,  as  they  might 
have  occasion.  Acts  11:  19—24;  15:  32,  33.  2  Cor.  8: 
23.  Phil.  2:  25.  1  Cor.  16:  3,  4.  These  deputations,  and 
the  power  of  sending  them,  indicate  the  independent  authori- 
ty of  the  churches. 

(rj)  They  united  with  the  church  in  mutual  consultation 
upon  doubtful  questions.  The  brethren  took  part  in  the 
dissension  with  Peter,  for  having  preached  unto  the  Gentiles. 
Acts  11:  1 — 18.  The  apostles  united  with  them  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  question  respecting  circumcision,  which  was 
submitted  to  them  by  the  delegation  from  Antioch,  and  the 
result  was  published  in  the  name  of  the  apostles  and  the  breth- 
ren, jointly.  Acts  15:  1  seq. 

(d^)  They  submitted  to  the  church  the  settlement  of  their 
own  difficulties.  The  appointment  of  the  seven  deacons, 
to  obviate  the  murmurs  of  the  Greeks,  was  made  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  apostles,  but  the  election  was  wholly  the  act 
of  the  church.  Acts  6:  1 — 6.  The  apostles  refused  any  au- 
thoritative arbitration  in  the  case;  and  required  the  churches 
to  choose  arbitrators  among  themselves  to  settle  their  own 
litigations.  1  Cor.  6:  1. 

(t)  They  entrusted  the  church,  also,  with  the  important 
right  of  electing  its  own  officers.  As  in  the  case  of  the 
seven  deacons,  which  we  have  just  stated ;  the  apostles 
refused  even  the  responsibility  of  supplying,  in  their  own 
number,  the  place  of  the  traitor  Judas,  but  submitted  the 
choice  to  the  assembly  of  the  disciples.  Acts  1:  15,  seq.  In 
this  connection  should  the  appointment  of  elders,  Acts  14: 
23,  also  be  mentioned,  as  may  hereafter  appear. 

(>c)  The  apostles  submitted  to  the  church  the  discipline  of 

^  Comp.  Ep.  Clem,  and  Euseb.,  h.  e.  Lib.  4.  c.  15.  Lib.  5.  c.  1, 
0.  24. 


34 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


its  members ;  as  in  the  case  of  the  incestuous  person,  who 
was  excommunicated  and  afterwards  restored  to  the  church 
by  that  body.  "  The  relations  of  presbyters  to  the  church 
was  not  that  of  rulers  with  monarchical  powers,  but  of  the 
officers  of  an  ecclesiastical  republic.  In  all  things  they  were 
to  act  in  connection  with  the  church,  and  to  perform  their 
duties  as  the  servants,  and  not  the  lords  of  the  church.  The 
apostles  recognized  the  same  relation.  They  addressed 
their  epistles,  not  to  the  officers  of  the  church,  but  to  the 
whole  body,  when  treating  not  merely  of  doctrinal  points,  but 
of  moral  duties  and  of  church  discipline.  The  apostle  Paul, 
when  speaking  of  the  excommunication  of  the  incestuous 
person  at  Corinth,  regards  himself  as  united  in  spirit  with 
the  whole  church,  1  Cor.  5:  4 ;  thus  indicating  the  principle, 
that  their  co-operation  was  required  in  all  such  cases  of  gen- 
eral interest. "10 

The  churches,  therefore,  whiQh  were  planted  by  the  apos- 
tles, were  under  their  sanction  organized  as  independent  pop- 
ular assemblies,  with  power  to  elect  officers,  adopt  rules,  ad- 
minister discipline,  and  to  do  all  those  acts  which  belong  to 
such  deliberative  bodies. 

7.  The  popular  government  of  the  primitive  church  is  ap- 
parent from  its  analogy  to  the  Jewish  synagogue. 

This  and  each  of  the  following  articles,  under  this  head, 
will  be  the  subjects  of  consideration  in  another  place.  They 
are  assumed  as  so  many  separate  heads  of  argumentation, 
so  far  as  they  may  appear  to  be  founded  in  truth.  Comp. 
Chap.  II. 

8.  The  primitive  churches  were,  severally,  independent  bo- 
dies, in  Christian  fellowship,  but  having  no  confederate  rela- 
tions one  toward  another. 

"The  power  of  enacting  laws,"  says  Mosheim,  "of  ap- 

1"  Neander,  Allgem.  Gesch.,  I,  S.  324,  2d  ed. 


SUMMARY  VIEW.  3^ 

pointing  teachers  and  ministers,  and  of  determining  con- 
troversies, was  lodged  in  the  people  at  large;  nor  did  the 
apostles,  though  invested  with  divine  authority,  either  re- 
solve or  sanction  anything  whatever,  without  the  know- 
ledge and  concurrence  of  the  general  body  of  Christians,  of 
which  the  church  was  composed. "n     Comp.  Chap.  III. 

9.  These  churches  severally  enjoyed  the  inherent  right  of 
every  independent  body — that  of  choosing  their  own  officers. 
This  right,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  belonged  to  the  apostol- 
ical churches,  was  retained  in  the  churches  during  the 
ages  immediately  following.     Comp.  Chap.  IV. 

10.  As  in  the  apostolical,  so  in  the  other  primitive  church- 
es, the  right  of  discipline  was  vested,  not  in  the  clergy,  but 
in  each  church  collectively. 12 

Even  the  officers-  of  the  church  were  subject  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  same.  Clement  recognizes  this  authority  in 
his  epistles  to  the  Corinthians.i^     Comp.  Chap.  V. 

11.  The  appropriate  officers  of  the  church  were  deacons 
and  pastors.  These  pastors  were  denominated  indiscrimi- 
nately bishops,  over'scers,  and  elders,  presbyters,  and  were  at 
first  identical.     Comp.  Chap.  VI. 

"  De  Rebus  Christ.,  etc.  §  ],  37.  To  the  same  effect,  also,  is  the 
authority  of  Neander,  Apost.  Kirch,  pp.  1,  161,  201,  214,  3ded. 

*^  Primo  omnibus  ecclesiae  membris  jus  eligendi  pastores  et  dia- 
conos  erat.  Communicatio  erat  quaedam  inter  varios  coetus  chris- 
tianos  vel  ecclesias;  literae  quas  altera  acceperat  alteri  legendae  mit- 
tebantur.  Pecunias  ad  pauperes  sublevandos  ecclesia  ecclesiae  dona- 
bat.  De  rebus  fidei  et  disciplinae  jam  apostoli  deliberaverunt.  Quae- 
quae  ecclesia  exercebat  jus  excommunicandi  eos  qui  doctrinae  et  vi- 
tae  christianae  renunciaverant,  eosque  recipiendi  quorum  poenitentia 
et  mentis  mutatio  constabat.  Sic  prima  christianorum  ecclesia  liber- 
tate,  Concordia,  sanctitate  floruit.  Sack  Comment,  ad  Theol.  Inst, 
p.  141. 

"  Epist.  §  54,  comp.  44.     Also  Pertsch,  Kirch.  Hist.  I.  362. 


36  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

The  government  of  the  church  was  the  peculiar  office  of 
the  bishops  or  presbyters.  It  was  their  business  to  watch 
over  the  general  order, — to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  and  of  Christian  practice, — to  guard  against 
abuses, — to  admonish  the  faulty, — and  to  guide  the  public 
deliberations ;  as  appears  from  the  passages  in  the  New 
Testament  where  their  functions  are  described.  But  their 
government  by  no  means  excluded  the  participation  of  the 
whole  church  in  the  management  of  their  common  concerns, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  what  we  have  already  remarked  re- 
specting the  nature  of  Christian  communion,  and  as  is  also 
evident  from  many  individual  examples  in  the  apostolical 
churches.  The  whole  church  at  Jerusalem  took  part  in  the 
deliberations  respecting  the  relation  of  the  Jewish  and  Gen- 
tile Christians  to  each  other,  and  the  epistle  drawn  up  after 
these  deliberations  was  likewise  in  the  name  of  the  whole 
church.  The  epistles  of  the  apostle  Paul,  as  has  already 
been  remarked,  which  treat  of  various  controverted  ecclesi- 
astical matters,  are  addressed  to  the  whole  churches;  imply- 
ing that  the  decision  belonged  to  the  whole  body.  Had  it 
been  otherwise,  would  he  not  have  addressed  his  instructions 
and  advice,  principally  at  least,  to  the  overseers  of  the  church  ? 
When  a  licentious  person  belonging  to  the  church  at  Corinth 
is  to  be  excommunicated,  the  apostle  treats  it  as  a  measure 
that  ought  to  proceed  from  the  whole  society ;  and  places 
himself,  therefore,  in  spirit  among  them,  to  unite  with  them 
in  passing  judgment;  1  Cor.  5:  3 — 5.  Also  when  discours- 
ing of  the  settlement  of  litigations,  the  apostle  does  not  af- 
firm that  it  properly  belonged  to  the  overseers  of  the  church; 
although,  if  this  had  been  the  prevalent  custom,  he  would  no 
doubt  have  referred  to  it ;  what  he  says,  seems  rather  to  im- 
ply that  it  was  usual,  in  particular  instances,  to  select  arbitra- 
tors from  among  the  members  of  the  church,  1  Cor.  6:  5.1^ 

Greiling,  after  going  through  with  an  examination  of  the 

^4  Neander,  Apost.  Kirch.  I,  pp.  1,  201.     Comp.  also,  p.  214. 


SUMMARY   VIEW.  37 

government  of  the  apostolical  churches,  gives  the  following 
summary  :  "  In  the  age  of  the  apostles,  there  was  no  primate 
of  the  churches,  but  the  entire  equality  of  brethren  prevailed. 
The  apostles  themselves  exercised  no  kind  of  authority  or 
power  over  the  churches;  but  styled  themselves  their  helpers 
and  servants.  The  settlement  of  controverted  points,  the 
adoption  of  new  rites,  the  discipline  of  the  church,  the  elec- 
tion of  presbyters,  and  even  the  choice  of  an  apostle,  were 
submitted  to  the  church.  The  principle  on  which  the  apos- 
tles proceeded  was,  that  the  church,  that  is,  the  elders  and 
the  members  of  the  church  unitedly,  were  the  depositaries  of 
all  their  social  rights  ;  that  no  others  could  exercise  this  right 
but  those  to  whom  the  church  might  entrust  it,  and  who 
were  accordingly  amenable  to  the  church.  Even  the  apos- 
tles, though  next  to  Christ  himself,  invested  with  the  highest 
authority,  assumed  no  superiority  over  the  presbyters,  but 
treated  them  as  brethren,  and  styled  themselves  fellow-pres- 
byters,— thus  recognizing  them  as  associates  in  office.''^^ 

Finally,  the  worship  of  the  primitive  churches  was  re- 
markable for  its  freedom  and  simplicity.  Their  religious 
rites  were  few  and  simple ;  and  restrained  by  no  complicated 
ritual,  or  prescribed  ceremonials.  This  point  is  considered, 
at  length,  in  a  subsequent  part  of  the  work. 

The  government  throughout  was  wholly  popular.  Every 
church  adopted  its  own  regulations,  and  enacted  its  own 
laws.  These  laws  were  administered  by  officers  elected  by 
the  church.  No  church  was  dependent  upon  another.  They 
were  represented  in  synod  by  their  own  delegates.  Their 
discipline  was  administered,  not  by  the  clergy,  but  by  the 
people  or  the  church  collectively.  And  even  after  ordination 
became  the  exclusive  right  of  the  bishop,  no  one  was  permit- 
ted to  preach  to  any  congregation,  who  was  not  sufficiently 
approved,  and  duly  accepted  by  the  congregation ;  and  all 

^»  Apostol.  Christengemeine.  Halberstadt,  1819. 

4 


38  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

their  religious  worship  was  conducted  on  the  same  princi- 
ples of  freedom  and  equality. 

Such  was  the  organization  of  the  Christian  church  in  its 
primitive  simplicity  and  purity.  The  national  peculiarities 
of  the  Jewish  and  gentile  converts,  in  some  degree,  modi- 
fied individual  churches,  but  the  form  of  government  was 
substantially  the  same  in  all.  We  claim  not  for  it  authority 
absolutely  imperative  and  divine,  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
other  system;  but  it  has,  we  must  believe,  enough  of  precept, 
of  precedent,  and  of  principle,  to  give  it  a  sanction  truly 
apostolic.  Its  advantages  and  practical  results  justly  claim 
an  attentive  consideration. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCHES    FORMED    AFTER    THE 
MODEL  OF  THE  JEWISH  SYN:AG0GUE. 

The  apostles  and  the  first  disciples  were  Jews,  who,  after 
their  conversion,  retained  the  prejudices  and  partialities  of 
their  nation.  They  observed  still  all  the  rites  of  their  re- 
ligion ;  and,  firmly  believing  that  salvation  by  Christ  belong- 
ed only  to  the  circumcision,  they  refiised  the  ministry  of  re- 
conciliation to  the  Gentiles.  All  their  national  peculiarities 
led  them  to  conform  the  Christian  to  the  Jewish  church. 

With  the  temple-service  and  the  Mosaic  ritual,  however, 
Christianity  had  no  affinity.  The  sacrificial  offerings  of 
the  temple,  and  the  Levitical  priesthood,  it  abolished.  But 
in  the  synagogue-worship,  the  followers  of  Christ  found  a 
more  congenial  institution.  It  invited  them  to  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  prayer.  It  gave  them  liberty  of 
speech  in  exhortation,  and  in  worshipping  and  praising  God. 
The  rules  and  government  of  the  synagogue,  while  they 
offered  little,  comparatively,  to  excite  the  pride  of  office  and 
of  power,  commended  themselves  the  more  to  the  humble 
believer  in  Christ.  The  synagogue  was  endeared  to  the  de- 
vout Jew  by  sacred  associations  and  tender  recollections. 
It  was  near  at  hand,  and  not,  like  the  temple,  afar  off.  He 
went  but  seldom  up  to  Jerusalem ;  and  only  on  great  oc- 
casions joined  in  the  rites  of  the  temple-service.  But  in  the 
synagogue  he  paid  his  constant  devotions  to  the  God  of  his 
fathers.     It  met  his  eye  in  every  place.     It  was  constantly 


40  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

before  him,  and  from  infancy  to  hoary  age,  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  repair  to  that  hallowed  place  of  worship,  to  listen 
to  the  reading  of  his  sacred  books,  to  pray  and  sing  praises 
unto  the  God  of  Israel.  In  accordance  with  pious  usage, 
therefore,  the  apostles  continued  to  frequent  the  synagogues 
of  the  Jews.  Wherever  they  went,  they  resorted  to  these 
places  of  worsliip,  and  strove  to  convert  their  brethren  to 
faith  in  Christ,  not  as  a  new  religion,  but  as  a  modification 
of  their  own. 

In  their  own  religious  assemblies  they  also  conformed,  as 
far  as  was  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion, 
to  the  same  rites,  and  gradually  settled  upon  a  church-organ- 
ization which  harmonized,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  with 
that  of  the  Jewish  synagogue.  They  even  retained  the  same 
name,  as  the  appellation  of  their  Christian  assemblies.  '*  If 
there  come  into  your  assembly,  avvayodyfiv,  if  there  come  into 
your  synagogue  a  man  with  a  gold  ring,  etc."  James  2:  2. 
Compare  also  miavvaywpiv.  Heb.  10:  25.  Their  modes  of 
worship  were,  substantially,  the  same  as  those  of  the  syna- 
gogue. The  titles  of  their  officers  they  also  borrowed  from 
the  same  source.  The  titles,  Bishop,  Pastor,  Presbyter,  etc., 
were  all  familiar  to  them,  as  synonymous  terms,  denoting  the 
same  class  of  officers  in  the  synagogue.  Their  duties  and 
prerogatives  remained,  in  substance,  the  same  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  as  in  that  of  the  Jews. 

So  great  was  this  similarity  between  the  primitive  Chris- 
tian churches  and  the  Jewish  synagogues,  that  by  the  Pagan 
nations  they  were  mistaken  for  the  same  institutions.  Pa- 
gan historians  uniformly  treated  the  primitive  Christians  as 
Jews.i  As  such,  they  suffered  under  the  persecutions  of 
their  idolatrous  rulers.  These,  and  many  other  particulars 
that  might  be  mentioned,  are  sufficient  to  show,  that  the 
ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  Jewish  synagogue  was  very  closely 

^  Vitringa,  De  Synagog.  Vet.  Prolegom.  pp.  3,  4. 


MODEL  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES.  41 

copied  by  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians  in  the  organ- 
ization of  their  assemblies. 

In  support  of  the  foregoing  statements,  authorities  to  any 
extent,  and  of  the  highest  character,  might  easily  be  ad- 
duced. Let  the  following,  hov.'ever,  suffice,  from  Neander, 
who  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  more  profoundly  skilled 
in  the  history  of  the  Christian  church  than  any  other  man 
now  living,  "  The  disciples  had  not  yet  attained  a  clear  un- 
derstanding of  that  call,  which  Christ  had  already  given 
them  by  so  many  intimations,  to  form  a  church  entirely  sep- 
arated from  the  existing  Jewish  economy  ;  to  that  economy 
they  adhered  as  much  as  possible;  all  the  forms  of  the  na- 
tional theocracy  were  sacred  in  their  esteem  ;  it  seemed  the 
natural  element  of  their  religious  consciousness,  though  a 
higher  principle  of  life  had  been  imparted,  by  which  that 
consciousness  was  to  be  progressively  inspired  and  transform- 
ed. They  remained  outwardly  Jews,  although,  in  propor- 
tion as  their  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  became  clearer 
and  stronger,  they  would  inwardly  cease  to  be  Jews,  and  all 
external  rites  would  assume  a  different  relation  to  their  in- 
ternal life.  It  was  their  belief,  that  the  existing  religious 
forms  would  continue  till  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  when 
a  new  and  higher  order  of  things  would  be  established,  and 
this  great  change  they  expected  would  shortly  take  place. 
Hence  the  establishment  of  a  distinct  mode  of  worship  was 
far  from  entering  their  thoughts.  Although  new  ideas  re- 
specting the  essence  of  true  worship  arose  in  their  minds 
from  the  light  of  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  they  felt  as  great  an 
interest  in  the  temple  worship  as  any  devout  Jews.  They 
believed,  however,  that  a  sifting  would  take  place  among  the 
members  of  the  theocracy,  and  that  the  better  part  would, 
by  the  acknowledgment  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  be  incor- 
porated with  the  Christian  community.  As  the  believers,  in 
opposition  to  the  mass  of  the  Jewish  nation  who  remained 
hardened  in  their  unbelief,  now  formed  a  community  inter- 
4* 


42  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

nally  bound  together  by  the  one  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Mes- 
siah, and  by  the  consciousness  of  the  higher  life  received 
from  him,  it  was  necessary  tliat  this  internal  union  should  as- 
sume a  certain  external  form.  And  a  model  for  such  a 
smaller  community  within  the  great  national  theocracy  al- 
ready existed  among  the  Jews,  along  with  the  temple  wor- 
ship, namely,  the  synagogues.  The  means  of  religious  ed- 
ification which  they  supplied,  took  account  of  the  religious 
welfare  of  all,  and  consisted  of  united  prayers  and  the  ad- 
dresses of  individuals  who  applied  themselves  to  the  study  of 
the  Old  Testament.  These  means  of  edification  closely 
corresponded  to  the  nature  of  the  new  Christian  worship. 
This  form  of  social  worship,  as  it  was  copied  in  all  the  reli- 
gious communities  founded  on  Judaism  (such  as  the  Es- 
senes),  was  also  adopted,  to  a  certain  extent,  at  the  first  for- 
mation of  the  Christian  church.  But  it  may  be  disputed, 
whether  the  apostles,  to  whom  Christ  committed  the  chief 
direction  of  affairs,  designed  from  the  first  that  believers 
should  form  a  society  exactly  on  the  model  of  the  synagogue, 
and,  in  pursuance  of  this  plan,  instituted  particular  offices 
for  the  government  of  the  church  corresponding  to  that 
model — or  whether,  without  such  a  preconceived  plan,  dis- 
tinct offices  were  appointed,  as  circumstances  required,  in 
doing  which  they  would  avail  themselves  of  the  model  of 
the  synagogue  with  which  they  were  fiimiliar."^  The  lat- 
ter supposition  is  forcibly  advocated  by  Neander,^  who  pro- 
ceeds to  say,  *'  Hence,  we  are  disposed  to  believe,  that  the 
church  was  at  first  composed  entirely  of  members  standing 
on  an  equality  with  one  another,  and  that  the  apostles  alone 
held  a  higher  rank,  and  exercised  a  directing  influence  over 
the  whole,  which  arose  from  the  original  position  in  which 
Christ  had  placed  them  in  relation  to  other  believers;  so  that 
the  whole  arrangement  and  administration  of  the  affairs  of 

2  Apost.  Kirch.  3d  edit.  p.  31.     Comp.  179,  198. 

3  Comp  ,  also,  Rothe,  Anfange,  p.  1G3.     Note. 


MODEL  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES.  43 

the  church  proceeded  from  them,  and  they  were  first  indu- 
ced by  particular  circumstances  to  appoint  other  church 
officers,  as  in  the  instance  of  deacons."^  To  the  same 
effect  is  also  Neander's  account  of  this  subject  in  his  Church 
History,  where  he  shows  that  this  organization  of  Christian 
churches  was  the  most  natural  under  existing  circumstances, 
and  the  most  acceptable,  not  only  to  Jewish  converts,  but  to 
those  who  were  gathered  from  the  subjects  of  the  Roman 
government.^  If  the  reader  require  other  authority  on  this 
subject,  he  has  only  to  examine  Vitringa,  De  Synagoga  Ve- 
tere,  especially  his  third  book,  to  say  nothing  of  Selden, 
Lightfoot,  and  many  others.  Vitringa  himself  has  fully  sus- 
tained the  bold  title  which  he  gives  to  his  immortal  work, 
— "Three  books  on  the  ancient  Synagogue;  in  which  it  is 
demonstrated,  that  the  form  of  government  and  of  the  min- 
istry in  the  synagogue  was  transferred  to  the  Christian 
church." 

It  is  gratifying  to  observe,  that  these  views  of  the  great 
Lutheran  historian  are  fully  avowed  by  Archbishop  Whately 
with  his  usual  independence  and  candor.  "  It  is  probable 
that  one  cause,  humanly  speaking,  why  we  find  in  the  Sa- 
cred Books  less  information  concerning  the  Christian  minis- 
try and  the  constitution  of  church-governments  than  we 
otherwise  might  have  found,  is  that  these  institutions  had  less 
of  novelty  than  some  would  at  first  sight  suppose,  and  that 
many  portions  of  them  did  not  wholly  originate  with  the 
apostles.  It  appears  highly  probable, — I  might  say,  morally 
certain, — that,  wherever  a  Jewish  synagogue  existed,  that 
was  brought, — the  whole,  or  the  chief  part  of  it, — to  em- 
brace the  gospel,  the  apostles  did  not,  there,  so  much /orm  a 
Christian  church  (or  congregation,*  eccksia),  as  inake  an 

4  P.  33.    Comp.  195,  seq.  So,  also,  Rothe,  Anfange,  S.  146—148. 
»  Kirchen.  Gesch,  I.  S.  183—185. 

*  The  word  "  congregation,''  as  it  stands  in  our  version  of  the  Old 
Testament,  (and  it  is  one  of  very  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Books  of 


44  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

existing  congregation  Christian ;  by  introducing  the  Chris- 
tian sacraments  and  worship,  and  establishing  whatever  reg- 
ulations were  requisite  for  the  newly-adopted  faith ;  leaving 
the  machinery  (if  I  may  so  speak)  of  government,  unchang- 
ed; the  "rulers  of  synagogues,  elders,  and  other  officers, 
(whether  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical,  or  both,)  being  already 
provided  in  the  existing  institutions.  And  it  is  likely  that 
several  of  the  earliest  Christian  churches  did  originate  in 
this  way ;  that  is,  that  they  were  converted  synagogues ; 
which  became  Christian  churches  as  soon  as  the  members, 
or  the  main  part  of  the  members,  acknowledged  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah. 

"  The  attempt  to  effect  this  conversion  of  a  Jewish  syna- 
gogue into  a  Christian  church,  seems  always  to  have  been 
made,  in  the  first  instance,  in  every  place  where  there  was 
an  opening  for  it.  Even  after  the  call  of  the  idolatrous  Gen- 
tiles, it  appears  plainly  to  have  been  the  practice  of  the  apos- 
tles Paul   and  Barnabas,*  when  they  came  to  any  city  in 

Moses,)  is  found  to  correspond,  in  the  Septuagint,  which  was  famil- 
iar to  the  New-Testament  writers,  to  ecclesia  ;  the  word  which,  in 
our  version  of  these  last,  is  always  rendered — not  "congregation," 
but  "  church.''  This,  or  its  equivalent,  "  kirk,"  is  probably  no  other 
than  "circle;"  i.  e.,  assembly,  ecclesia. 

*  These  seem  to  be  the  first  who  are  employed  in  converting  the 
idolatrous  Gentiles  to  Christianity,*  and  their  first  considerable  har- 
vest among  these  seems  to  have  been  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  as  may 
be  seen  by  any  one  who  attentively  reads  the  13th  chapter  of  Acts. 
Peter  was  sent  to  Cornelius,  a  '■'■devout"  Gentile; — one  of  those  who 
had  renounced  idolatry,  and  frequented  the  synagogues.  And  these 
seem  to  have  been  regarded  by  him  as,  in  an  especial  manner,  his  par- 
ticular charge.  His  epistles  appear  to  have  been  addressed  to  them, 
as  may  be  seen  both  by  the  general  tenor  of  his  expression,!  and  es- 
pecially in  the  opening  address,  which  is  not,  (as  would  appear  from 
our  version,)  to  the  dispersed  Jeics^  but  to  the  "sojourners  of  the  dis- 
persion," 7TaQ67Tidt]iuoig  SiaoTTCQas,  i.  e.  the  devout  Gentiles  living 
among  the  "dispersion  " 

*  See  Barrington's  Miscellanea  Sacra, 
t  See  Hinds's  History,  Vol.  II. 


MODEL  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES.  45 

which  there  was  a  synagogue,  to  go  thither  first  and  deliver 
their  sacred  message  to  the  Jews  and  '  devout  (or  proselyte) 
Gentiles;' — according  to  their  own  expression  (Acts  13:  17), 
to  the  '  men  of  Israel  and  those  that  feared  God :'  adding, 
that  *  it  was  necessary  that  the  word  of  God  should  first  be 
preached  to  them.'  And  when  they  founded  a  church  in  any 
of  those  cities  in  which  (and  such  were,  probably,  a  very 
large  majority)  there  was  no  Jewish  synagogue  that  received 
the  gospel,  it  is  likely  they  would  still  conform,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  same  model."6 

It  is,  then,  an  admitted  fact,  as  clearly  settled  as  anything 
can  be  by  human  authority,  that  the  primitive  Christians,  in 
the  organization  of  their  assemblies,  formed  them  after  the 
model  of  the  Jewish  synagogue.  They  discarded  the  splen- 
did ceremonials  of  the  temple-service,  and  retained  the  sim- 
ple rites  of  the  synagogue-worship.  They  disowned  the  he- 
reditary aristocracy  of  the  Levitical  priesthood,^  and  adopted 
the  popular  government  of  the  synagogue.^ 

We  are  here  presented  with  an  important  fact  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  primitive  churches,  strongly  illustrative  of 
the  popular  character  of  their  constitution  and  government. 
The  synagogue  was,  essentially,  a  popular  assembly,  invested 
with  the  rights  and  possessing  the  powers  which  are  essential 
to  the  enjoyment  of  religious  liberty.  Their  government  was 
voluntary,  elective,  free ;  and  administered  by  rulers  or  elders 
elected  by  the  people.  The  ruler  of  the  synagogue  was  the 
moderator  of  the  college  of  elders,  but  only  primus  inter 
pares,  holding  no  official  rank  above  them.9     The  people,  as 

®  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp.  78 — 80. 

'  The  prelatical  reference  of  the  Christian  ministry  to  the  Leviti- 
cal priesthood  is  a  device  of  a  later  age,  though  it  has  been  common 
from  the  time  of  Cyprian  down  to  the  present  time. 

**  Totum  regimen  ecclesiasticumconformatumfuit  ad  synogogarura 
exemplar.     Hugo  Grotius,  Comment,  ad  Act.  11:  30. 

9  Vitringa,  De  Vet.  Syn.  L.  3.  c.  16. 


46 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


Vitringa  has  shown,io  appointed  their  own  officers  to  rule 
over  them.  They  exercised  the  natural  right  of  freemen  to 
enact  and  execute  their  own  laws, — to  admit  proselytes, — r 
and  to  exclude,  at  pleasure,  unworthy  members  from  their 
communion.  Theirs  was  "  a  democraiical  form  of  govern^ 
ment,"  and  is  so  described  by  one  of  the  most  able  expound- 
ers of  the  constitution  of  the  primitive  churches.^  Like 
their  prototype,  therefore,  the  primitive  churches  also  em- 
bodied the  principle  of  a  popular  government  and  of  enlight- 
ened religious  liberty. 

10  Comp.  Vitringa,  De  Synagoga,  Lib.  3.  P.  I.e.  15.  pp.  828—863. 
Nihil  actum  absque  ecclesia,  [i.  c.  the  synagogue]  quae  in  publico 
consulta  est,  et  quidem  hac  ipsa  formula  :  ti^V??.  V-'r['  ^'^®  «s*os 
quam  in  vertere  ecclesia  ineligendisepiscopis  adhibitam  meminimus, 
p.  829.  In  vita  Josephi,  .  .  .  publica  omnia  ibi  tractari  videmus  in 
synagogis,  consuUo  populo,  p.  832. 

"  Rothe,  Anftlnge  der  Christ.  Kirch.  S.  14. 


CHAPTER  III 


INDEPENDENCE  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES. 

The  churches  which  were  established  by  the  apostles  and 
their  disciples  exhibit  a  remarkable  example  of  unanimity. 
One  in  faith  and  the  fellowship  of  love,  they  were  united  in 
spirit  as  different  members  of  one  body,  or  as  brethren  of 
the  same  family.i  This  union  and  fellowship  of  spirit  the 
apostles  carefully  promoted  among  all  the  churches.  But 
they  instituted  no  external  form  of  unipii  or  coiifederation 
between  those  of  different  towns  or  provinces ;  nor,  within 
the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era  can  any  trace  of  such  a 
confederacy,  whether  diocesan  or  conyeiUional,  be  detected 
on  the  page  of  history.  The  diocesan,  metropolitan  and 
patriarchal  forms  of  organization  belong  to  a  later  age. 
The  idea  of  a  holy  catholic  church,  one  and  indivisible,  had 
not  yet  arisen  in  the  church,  nor  had  it  assumed  any  out- 
ward form  of  union.  Wherever  converts  to  Christianity 
were  multiplied  they  formed  themselves  into  a  church,  un- 
der the  guidance  of  their  religious  teachers,  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  Christian  ordinances.  ButeacJi  individual. oJ^mrph 
constituted  an  independent.and  separate  community.  The 
society  was  purely  voluntary,  and  every  church  so  constitu- 
ted was  strictly  inclependent  of  all  others  in  the  conduct  of 
its  worship,  the  admission  of  its  members,  the  exercise  of 
its  discipline,  the  choice  of  its  officers  and  the  entire  man- 
agement of  its  affairs.     They  were,  in  a  word,  independent 

I  1  Cor.  12:  12,  13.     Eph.  2:  20.  4:  3. 


48  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

republics,  as  Mosheim  and  Neander  justly  describe  them. 
**  Each  individual  church  which  had  a  bishop  or  presbyter  of 
ilg,(gwn,  assumed  to  itself  the  form  and  rights  of  aTTttle  dis- 
tinct republic  or  commonwealth;  and  with  regard  to  its  in- 
ternal concerns  was  wholly  regulated  by  a  code  of  laws,  that 
if  they  did  not  originate  with,  had  at  least  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  people  constituting  such  church."  This  is  said 
with  special  reference  to  the  earliest  churches.^  **  In  regard 
to  the  relations  of  the  presbyters  to  the  churches,  they  were 
appointed,  not  to  exercise  unlimited  authority,  but  to  act  as 
the  leaders  and  rulers  of  ecclesiastical  republics,  to  transact 
every  thing  in  connection  with  the  church,  not  as  lords  of 
the  same,  but  as  its  servants.''^  The  opinion  of  these  great 
historians  of  the  church,  in  respect  to  the  independent,  pop- 
ular character  of  the  government  of  the  primitive  churches, 
is  sufficiently  obvious  in  these  passages. 

Particular  neighboring  churches  may  for  various  reasons 
have  sustained  peculiar  fraternal  relations  to  each  other. 
Local  and  other  circumstances  may,  in  time,  have  given  rise 
to  correspondence  between  churches  more  remote,  or  to  mu- 
tual consultations  by  letter  and  by  delegates,  as  in  the  in- 
stance of  the  churches  at  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  Acts  xv, 
and  of  Corinth  and  Rome  ;4  but  no  established  jurisdiction 
was  exercised  by  one  over  the  other,  nor  did  any  settled  re- 
lations subsist  between  them.  The  church  at  Jerusalem, 
with  the  apostles  and  elders,  addressed  the  church  at  An- 
tioch, not  in  the  language  of  authority,  but  of  advice.  Nor 
does  ancient  history,  sacred  or  profane,  relating  to  this  early 
period,  record  a  single  instance  in  which  one  church  pre- 
sumed to  impose  laws  of  its  own  upon  another. 

This  independence  of  the  churches,  one  of  another,  is  ful- 
ly and  clearly  presented  by  Mosheim.  "  Although  all  the 
churches  were,  in  this  first  stage  of  Christianity,  united  to- 

2  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  11.  §  22. 

^  Neander,  Allgemein.  Gesch.,  I.  291,  2. 

*  See  Epistle  of  Clement  of  Rome,  to  the  Corinthians. 


INDEPENDENCE  OF  THE  CHURCHES.  49 

gether  in  one  common  bond  of  faith  and  love,  and  were,  in 
every  respect,  ready  to  promote  the  interest  and  welfare  of 
each  other  by  a  reciprocal  interchange  of  good  offices,  yet,, 
with  regard  to  government  and  internal  economy,  every  indi- 
vidual church  considered  itself  as  an  independent  community,, 
none  of  them  ever  looking  beyond  the  circle  of  its  own  mem- 
bers for  assistance,  or  recognizing  any  sort  of  external  in- 
fluence or  authority.  Neither  in  the  New  Testament,  nor 
in  any  ancient  document  whatever,  do  we  find  anything  re- 
corded, from  which  it  might  be  inferred  that  any  of  the  mi- 
nor churches  were  at  all  dependent  on,  or  looked  up  for  di- 
rection to,  those  of  greater  magnitude  or  consequence.  On 
the  contrary,  several  things  occur  therein  which  put  it  out  of 
all  doubt,  that  every  one  of  them  enjoyed  the  same  rights, 
and  was  considered  as  being  on  a  footing  of  the  most  perfect 
equality  with  the  rest.  Indeed  it  cannot,  I  will  not  say  be 
proved,  but  even  be  made  to  appear  probable,  from  testimo- 
ny human  or  divine,  that  in  this  age  it  was  the  practice  for 
several  churches  to  enter  into  and  maintain  among  them- 
selves, that  sort  of  association  which  afterwards  came  to  sub- 
sist among  the  churches  of  almost  every  province.  I  alluder 
to  their  assembling  by  their  bishops,  at  stated  periods,  for  the 
purpose  of  enacting  general  laws,  and  determining  any  ques- 
tions or  controversies  that  might  arise  respecting  divine  mat- 
ters. It  is  not  until  the  second  century,  that  any  traces  of 
that  sort  of  association  from  whence  councils  took  their  ori- 
gin are  to  be  perQ.eived  ;  when  we  find  them  occurring  here 
and  there,  some  of  them  tolerably  clear  and  distinct,  others 
again  but  slight  and  faint,  which  seems  plainly  to  prove  that 
the  practice  arose  subsequently  to  the  times  of  the  apostles, 
and  that  all  that  is  urged  concerning  the  councils  of  the 
first  century,  and  the  divine  authority  of  councils,  is  sustain- 
ed merely  by  the  most  uncertain  kind  of  evidence,  namely, 
the  practice  and  opinion  of  more  recent  times."^ 

»  De  Rebus  Christ ,  Saec.  I.  §  48. 
5 


50  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Indications  of  this  original  independence  are  distinctly 
manifest  even  after  the  rise  of  Episcopacy.  Every  bisliop 
had  the  right  to  form  his  own  liturgy  and  creed,  and  to  set- 
tle at  pleasure  his  own  time  and  mode  of  celebrating  the  re- 
ligious festivals.6  Cyprian  strongly  asserts  the  right  of  every 
bishop  to  make  laws  for  his  own  church.  Socrates  assigns 
this  original  independence  of  the  bishops  as  the  principal 
cause  of  the  endless  controversies  in  the  church,  respecting 
the  observance  of  Easter  and  other  festivals.''' 

But  we  need  not  enlarge.  Nothing  in  the  history  of  the 
primitive  churches  is  more  incontrovertible,  than  the  fact  of 
their  absolute  independence  one  of  another.  It  is  attested 
by  the  highest  historical  authorities,  and  appears  to  be  gene- 
rally conceded  by  Episcopal  authors  themselves.  "  At  first," 
says  the  learned  Dr.  Barrow,  *'  every  church  was  settled 
apart  under  its  own  bishop  and  presbyters,  so  as  indepen- 
dently and  separately  to  manage  its  own  concerns.  Each 
was  governed  by  its  own  head  and  had  its  own  laws."8 

*'  Every  church,"  according  to  Dr.  Burton,  "  had  its  own 
spiritual  head  or  bishop,  and  was  independent  of  every  other 
church,  with  respect  to  its  own  internal  regulations  and  laws. 
There  was,  however,  a  connexion,  more  or  less  intimate,  be- 
tween neighboring  churches,  which  was  a  consequence,  in 
some  degree,  of  the  geographical  or  civil  divisions  of  the 
empire.  Thus  the  churches  of  one  province,  such  as  Acha- 
ia,  Egypt,  Cappadocia,  etc.,  formed  a  kind  of  union,  and  the 
bishop  of  the  capital,  particularly  if  his  see  happened  to  be 
of  apostolic  foundation,  acquired  a  precedence  in  rank  and 
dignity  over 'the  rest.  This  superiority  was  often  increased 
by  the  bishop  of  the  capital  (who  was  called,  in  later  times, 
the  metropolitan)  having  actually  planted  the  church  in  small- 

^  Greiling,  Apostol.  Christengemeine.  S.  16. 
7  Eccles.  Hist.  Lib.  5.  c.  22. 

^  Treatise  on  Pope's  Supremacy,  Works,  Vol.  1.  p.  662.  Comp. 
King's  Prim.  Christ,  c.  12.  p.  14,  also  136. 


INDEPENDENCE  OF  THE  CHURCHES.  51 

er  and  more  distant  places ;  so  that  the  mother-church,  as  it 
might  literally  be  termed,  continued  to  feel  a  natural  and 
parental  regard  for  the  churches  planted  by  itself.  These 
churches,  however,  were  wholly  independent  in  matters  of 
internal  jurisdiction;  though  it  was  likely  that  there  would 
be  a  resemblance,  in  points  even  of  slight  importance,  be- 
tween churches  of  the  same  province." 

Riddle's  account  of  this  subject  is  as  follows : — "  The 
apostles  or  their  representatives  exercised  a  general  superin- 
tendence over  the  churches  by  divine  authority,  attested  by 
miraculous  gifts.  The  subordinate  government  of  each  par- 
ticular church  was  vested  in  itself;  that  is  to  say,  the  whole 
body  elected  its  ministers  and  officers,  and  was  consulted 
concerning  all  matters  of  importance.  All  churches  were  in- 
dependent of  each  other,  but  were  united  by  the  bonds  of 
holy  charity,  sympathy  and  friendship."^ 

Similar  views  are  also  expressed  by  Archbishop  Whately. 
"  Though  there  was  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  for  all 
of  these,  yet  they  were  each  a  distinct,  independent  commu- 
nity on  earth,  united  by  the  common  principles  on  which 
they  were  founded  by  their  mutual  agreement,  affection  and 
respect ;  but  not  having  any  one  recognized  head  on  earth, 
or  acknowledging  any  sovereignty  of  one  of  those  societies 
over  others.  Each  bishop  originally  presided  over  one  en- 
tire church."io  Now  what,  according  to  these  Episcopal 
concessions,  was  the  bishop  at  first,  but  the  pastor  of  a  single 
church,  a  parochial  bishop,  exercising  only  the  jurisdiction, 
and  enjoying  the  rights  of  an  independent  Congregational 
clergyman  ?     But  more  of  this  hereafter. 

Several  of  the  ancient  churches  firmly  asserted  and  main- 
tained their  original  religious  liberty,  by  refusing  to  acknow- 
ledge the  authority  of  the  ancient  councils,  for  a  long  time 
after  the  greater  part  of  the  churches  had  subjected  them- 

^  Chronology,  Beginning  of  Second  Century, 
i"  Kingdom  of  Christ.     N.  Y.  1842;  p.  110,  136. 


52  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

selves  to  the  authority  of  these  confederacies.  The  church 
in  Africa,  for  example,  and  some  of  the  Eastern  churches,  al- 
though they  adopted  the  custom  of  holding  councils,  and 
were  in  correspondence  with  these  churches,  declined  en- 
tering into  any  grand  Christian  confederation  with  them; 
and  continued  for  some  time  inflexibly  tenacious  of  their 
own  just  liberty  and  independence.  This  their  example  is 
an  effectual  refutation  of  those  who  pretend  that  these  coun- 
cils were  divinely  appointed  and  had,  jure  divino,  authority 
over  the  churches.  Who  can  suppose  that  these  churches 
would  have  asserted  their  independence  so  sternly,  against 
an  institution  appointed  by  our  Lord  or  his  apostles  ?ii 

The  early  independence  of  the  churches,  then,  is  conced- 
ed even  by  Episcopalians  themselves.  It  has  both  the  sanc- 
tion of  apostolic  precedent,  and  the  concurring  authority  of 
ecclesiastical  writers,  ancient  and  modern.  This  of  itself  is  a 
point  strongly  illustrative  of  the  religious  freedom  which  was 
the  basis  of  their  original  polity.  This  independence  of  par- 
ticular churches  is  the  great  central  principle,  the  original 
element,  of  their  popular  constitution  and  government.  It 
vests  the  authority  and  power  of  each  church  in  its  own 
members  collectively.  It  guards  their  rights.  It  guarantees  to 
them  the  elective  franchise,  and  ensures  to  them  the  enjoyment 
of  religious  liberty,  under  a  government  administered  by  the 
voice  of  the  majority,  or  delegated  at  pleasure  to  their  repre- 
sentatives. The  constitution  of  the  churches  and  their  mutual 
relations,  may  not  have  been  precisely  Congregational  or  Pres- 
byterian, but  they  involved  the  principles  of  the  religious  free- 
dom and  the  popular  rights  which  both  are  designed  to  protect. 

^^  Even  the  council  of  Nice,  in  treatinir  of  the  authority  of  the 
metropolitan  bishops  of  Rome,  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  rests  the  dig- 
nity and  authority  of  these  prelates,  not  on  any  divine  rights  but 
solely  on  ancient  usage.  Td  a^ycua  I'd'/j  XQareiro^  etc.,  eTniSrj  xctl  t(Z 
iv  rij  Po)firj  tniGHOTtto  ovvt^d'eg  ioziv,  Can.  6.  Comp.  Du  Pin,  An- 
tiq.  Eccl.  Disciplina.  Diss.  1.  §  7.  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ., 
Saec.  II.  §  23,  Note. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH. 

The  right  of  suffrage  was,  from  the  beginning,  enjoyed  in 
the  Christian  cHurch.  The  first  public  act  of  this  body  was 
a  formal  recognition  and  a  legitimate  exercise  of  this  right. 
First  in  importance  among  their  popular  rights,  they  main- 
tained it  with  greater  constancy  than  any  other  against  the 
usurpations  of  prelatical  power,  and  resigned  it  last  of  all 
into  the  hands  of  their  spiritual  oppressors.  The  subject  of 
the  following  chapter  leads  us  to  consider, 

I.  The  evidence  that  the  right  of  suffrage  was  enjoyed  by 
the  primitive  church. 

II.  The  time  and  means  of  the  extinction  of  this  right. 

I.  The  members  of  the  primitive  church  enjoyed  the  right 
of  electing,  by  aj^opular  vote,  their  own  officers  and  tegichers. 
The  evidence  in  support  of  this  position  is  derived  from  the 
writings  of  the  apostles  and  of  the  early  fathers.  In  the  former 
we  have  on  record  instances  of  the  election  of  an  apostle, 
and  of  deacons,  delegates  and  presbyters  of  the  church,  each 
by  a  popular  vote  of  that  body.  From  the  latter,  we  learn 
that  the  church  continued  for  several  centuries  subsequent 
to  the  age  of  the  apostles,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  elective 
franchise. 

5* 


54  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

1.    The  scriptural    argument,  from   the   writings   of  the 
apostles. 

(a)  The  election  of  an  apostle. 

The  first  public  act  of  the  church  after  our  Lord's  ascen- 
sion, was  the  choice  of  a  substitute  in  the  place  of  the  apostle 
Judas.     This  election  was  made,  not  by  the  apostles  them- 
selves, but  by  the  joint  action  of  the  whole  body  of  believers. 
If,  in  any  instance,  the  apostles  had   the  right,  by  their  own 
independent  authority,  to  invest  another  with  the  ministerial 
office,  we  might  expect  them  to  exercise  that  prerogative  in 
supplying  this  vacancy  in  their  own  body.     That  right,  how- 
ever, they  virtually  disclaimed,  by  submitting  the  election  to 
the  arbitration  of  the  assembled  body  of  believers.     If  they 
exercised   any  leading  influence  in  the  election,  it  was  in 
nominating  the  two  candidates  for  office,  Joseph  and  Mat- 
thias, Acts  1:  23.     Nothing,  however,  appears  from  the  con- 
text to  decide  whether  even  the  nomination  proceeded  from 
them,  or   from  the  church  collectively.     But  however  that 
may  be,  the  election  was  the  act  of  the  assembly ;  and  was 
made,  either  by  casting  lots,  or  by  an  elective  vote.    Mosheim 
understands  the  phrase,  adooxev  y.XrJQOvg  avtodv,  to  express  the 
casting  of  a  popular  vote  by  the  Christians.     To  express  the 
casting  of  lots,  according  to  this  author,  the  verb  should  have 
been  'i^alov,  as  in  Matth.  27:  35.  Luke  23:  34.  John  19:  24. 
Mark  15:  24.  Comp.  Septuagint,Ps.  22:  19.  Joel  3:3.  Nah. 
3:  10 ;  which  also  accords  with  the  usage  of  Homer  in  simi- 
lar cases.i     But  the  phrase,  tdco-Aev  yJJjQovg^  according  to  this 
author,   expresses  the  casting  of  a  popular  vote ;  the  term, 
^l/jQOvg,  being  used  in  the  sense  of  ^prjcpogj  a  suffrage,  or 
vote,  so  that  what  the  evangelist  meant  to  say  was  simply  this  : 
*'  and  those  who  were  present  gave  their  votes."^ 

The  precise  mode  of  determining  the  election,  perhaps, 
cannot   be  fully  settled.      Nor  are   the  persons  who  gave 

»  Iliad,  23.  352.     Odyss.  14.  209. 

2  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  1.  §  14.  Note. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  55 

the  vote  clearly  designated,  but  they  appear  to  have  been  the 
whole  body  of  believers  then  present.  When  we  compare 
this  election  with  that  of  the  deacons,  which  soon  followed, 
and  consider  the  uniform  custom  of  the  disciples  to  sub- 
mit to  the  church  the  enacting  of  their  own  laws,  and  the 
exercise  of  their  popular  rights,  in  other  respects,  we  must 
regard  the  election  before  us,  as  the  joint  act  of  the  brethren 
there  assembled.  For  this  opinion,  we  have  high  authority 
from  German  writers.  "  The  whole  company  of  believers 
had  a  part  in  supplying  the  number  of  the  apostles  them- 
selves, and  the  choice  was  their  joint  act."^  "At  the  request 
of  the  apostles,  the  church  chose,  by  lot,  Matthias  for  an 
apostle,  in  the  place  of  Judas."-*  "  Without  doubt,  those 
expositors  adopt  the  right  view,  who  suppose  that  not  only 
the  apostles,  but  all  the  believers  were  at  that  time  assem- 
bled;  for,  though  in  Acts  1:  26,  the  apostles  are  primarily 
intended,  yet  the  disciples  collectively  form  the  chief  subject, 
Acts  1:  15,  to  which  all  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  chap- 
ter necessarily  refers.''^  This  is  said  with  reference  to  the 
assembly  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  but  the  reasoning  shows 
distinctly  the  views  of  the  author  respecting  the  persons 
who  composed  the  assembly  at  the  election  of  Matthias. 
"In  all  decisions  and  acts,  even  in  the  election  of  the  twelfth 
apostle,  the  church  had  a  voice."^ 

Chrysostom's  exposition  of  the  passage,  confirmed  as  it  is 
also  by  Cyprian,  may,  without  doubt,  be  received  as  a  fair 
expression  of  the  sentiments  and  usages  of  the  early  church 
on  this  subject.  "  Peter  did  everything  here  with  the  com- 
mon consent ;  nothing,  by  his  own  will  and  authority.  He 
left  the  judgment  to  the  multitude,  to  secure  the  respect 

3  Rohr,  Kritischen  Predigerbibliothek.     Bd.  13.  Heft.  6. 

*  D.  Grossmann,  Ueber  eine  Reformation  der  protestantischen  Kir- 
chenverfassung  in  Konigreiche  Sachsen.     Leipsig,  1833,  S.  47. 

^  Neander,  Apost.  Kirch.  I.  c.  1.  Note, 

*  Greiling,  Apostol.  Kirchengemeine,  S.  15. 


66  THE  PRIMITIVE   CHURCH. 

to  the  elected,  and  to  free  himself  from  every  invidious  re- 
flection." After  quoting  the  words,  *'  they  appointed  two," 
he  adds,  '^  he  did  not  himself  appoint  them,  it  was  the  act 
of  all."7 

The  order  of  the  transaction  appears  to  have  been  as  follows  : 
Peter  stands  up  in  the  midst  of  the  disciples,  convened  in 
assembly  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and 
explains  to  them  the  necessity  of  choosing  another  apostle 
in  the  place  of  the  apostate  Judas,  and  urges  them  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  election.  The  whole  assembly  then  designate 
two  of  their  number  as  candidates  for  the  office,  and  after 
prayer  for  divine  direction,  all  cast  lots,  and  the  Jot  falls  upon 
Matthias  ;8  or,  according  to  Mosheim,  all  cast  their  votes,  and 
the  vote  falls  upon  Matthias.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
mode  of  the  election,  it  appears  to  have  been  a  popular  vote, 
and  indicates  the  inherent  right  of  the  people  to  make  the 
election. 

(6)  The  election  of  the  seven  deacons.  Acts  6:  1 — 6. 

Here  again  the  proposition  originated  with  the  apostles. 
It  was  received  with  approbation  by  the  whole  multitude,  who 
immediately  proceeded  to  make  the  election  by  a  united 
and  public  vote.  The  order  of  the  transaction  is  very  clear- 
ly marked.  The  apostles  propose  to  *'  the  multitude  of  the 
disciples"  the  appointment  of  the  seven.  The  proposal  is 
favorably  received  by  *'  the  whole  multitude,"  who  accord- 
ingly proceed  to  the  choice  of  the  proposed  number,  and  set 
them  before  the  apostles,  not  to  ratify  the  election,  but  to 
induct  them  into  office  by  the  laying  on  of  hands.  This 
election  is  clearly  set  forth  as  the  act  of  the  whole  assembly 
and  is  so  universally  admitted  to  have  been  made  by  a  pop- 
ular vote,  that  it  may  be  passed  without  further  remark.  In- 
deed, "  it  is  impossible,"  as  Owen  observes,  "  that  there 
should  be  a  more  evident  convincing  instance  and  example 

7  Horn,  ad  locum,  Vol.  IX.  p.  25.     Comp.  Cyprian,  Ep.  68. 
»  Rothe,  Anfdnge  der  Christ.  Kirch.  S.  149. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  57 

of  the  free  choice  of  ecclesiastical  officers  by  the  multitude 
or  fraternity  of  the  church,  than  is  given  us  herein.  Nor 
was  there  any  ground  or  reason  why  this  order  and  process 
should  be  observed,  why  the  apostles  would  not  themselves 
nominate  and  appoint  persons,  whom  they  saw  and  knew 
meet  for  this  office  to  receive  it,  but  that  it  was  the  right  and 
liberty  of  the  people,  according  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  to 
choose  their  own  officers,  which  they  would  not  abridge  or 
infringe."^ 

(c)  The  election  of  delegates  of  the  churches. 

These  delegates  were  the  fellow-laborers  and  assistants 
of  the  apostle,  to  accompany  him  in  his  travels,  to  assist  in 
setting  in  order  the  churches,  and  generally  to  supply  his 
lack  of  service  to  all  the  churches,  the  care  of  which  came 
upon  him.  Such,  according  to  Rothe,  was  Timothy,  whom 
he  commends  as  his  fellow-laborer,  Rom.  16:  21.  I  Thess. 
3:  2,  and  associates  with  himself  in  salutation  to  the  church- 
es. Phil.  1:  1.  1  Thess.  1:  1.  2  Thess.  1:  1.,  etc.  Such  was 
Titus,  2  Cor.  8:  23.  Silvanus,  1  Thess.  1:  1.  2  Thess  1: 
1.  Mark,  Coloss.  4:  10.  1  Peter  5:  13.  Clemens,  Phil.  4: 
3.     Epaphras,  Coloss.  1:  7,  etc.io 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  specific  duties  of  this 
office,  the  appointment  to  it  was  made  by  a  vote  of  the 
church.  One  such  assistant  Paul  greatly  commends,  who 
was  appointed  by  the  church  x^fQff^ovj]\^8}g  vtto  rojv  iAxXtj- 
6i(av,  2  Cor.  8:  19,  as  his  travelling  companion.  To  this 
and  the  election  of  the  seven  deacons,  Neander  refers,  as 
evidence  of  the  manner  in  which  this  popular  right  was  ex- 
ercised in  the  churches.  "  Inasmuch  as  the  apostles  sub- 
mitted the  appointment  of  the  deacons  to  the  vote  of  the 
church,  and  that  of  the  delegates  who  should  accompany 
them  in  the  name  of  the  churches,  we  may  infer  that  a  sim- 
ilar course  was  pursued  also  in  the  appointment  of  other 
officers  of  the  church." 'i 

9  Gospel  Church,  Chap.  IV.  i"  Anfilnge,  I.  S.  305—307. 

"  Allgemein.  Gesch.  I.  S.  290, 


58  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Rothe  appeals  to  the  same  example,  as  a  clear  instance 
of  a  popular  election,  and  adds,  that  it  harmonizes  with  the 
authority  of  Clement  of  Rome,  who  states  explicitly,  that 
where  the  apostles  had  established  churches  they  appointed 
bishops  and  deacons,  "  with  the  approbation  of  the  whole 
church^^  avvevdoxrj(jd6J]g  ttjg  ixy^ltjaiag.^^ 

{d)  The  election  of  presbyters. 

That  presbyters  were  elected  by  the  church  is  a  fair  con- 
clusion from  the  examples  that  have  already  been  given.  If 
the  apostles  submitted  to  the  church  the  election  of  one  of 
their  number  as  an  extraordinary  and  temporary  minister, 
much  more  may  they  be  supposed  to  have  submitted  to  the 
same  body  the  election  of  their  ordinary  pastors  and  teach- 
ers, the  presbyters.  Or,  if  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  the 
choice  of  Matthias  by  the  church,  there  can  be  none  of  the 
election  of  the  deacons  and  delegates  by  a  popular  vote.  In 
this  conclusion,  we  are  sustained  by  the  authority  of  Nean- 
der,i3  Rothe^4  and  Mosheim.  "  That  the  presbyters  of  the 
primitive  church  of  Jerusalem  were  elected  by  the  suffrages 
of  the  people,  cannot,  I  think,  well  be  doubted  by  any  one 
who  shall  have  duly  considered  the  prudence  and  moderation 
discovered  by  the  apostles,  in  filling  up  the  vacancy  in  their 
own  number,  and  in  appointing  curators  or  guardians  for  the 
poor."i5  After  having  proceeded  to  invest  the  churches  with 
the  right  of  electing  their  own  officers,  can  the  apostles  be 
supposed  to  have  invaded  this  sacred  right,  by  refusing  to  them 
the  election  of  their  own  pastors  and  teachers  ? 

These  several  instances  of  election  chiefly  relate  to  the 
church  at  Jerusalem.  But  wherever  churches  were  planted 
by  the  apostles,  they  were,  without  doubt,  organized  after 
the  original  plan  of  that  at  Jerusalem  ;  so  that  the  above  is 
a  fair  exhibition  of  the  mode  of  appointment  which  general- 
ly prevailed  in  the  churches.      "  The  new  churches,"  says 

12  Anfange,  I.  3-  151.  ^^,  '■*  Cited  above. 

15  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.I.  §  39. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  59 

Gieseler,  "  every  where  formed  themselves  on  the  model  of 
the  mother  church  at  Jerusalem. "^^  go  ajg^^  Mosheim  : 
"  Since  all  these  churches  were  constituted  and  formed  after 
the  model  of  that  which  was  planted  at  Jerusalem,  a  review 
of  the  constitution  and  regulations  of  this  one  church  alone 
will  enable  us  to  form  a  tolerably  accurate  conception  of  the 
form  and  discipline  of  all  these  primitive  Christian  assem- 
blies."i7 

In  the  gentile  churches  the  popular  principle  is  more 
strongly  marked  than  in  the  Jewish  churches,  but  thfe  organ- 
ization of  all  appears,  at  first,  to  have  been  essentially  the 
the  same.  At  a  later  period,  all  may  have  been  more  or 
less  modified  by  peculiar  circumstances,  and  a  greater  differ- 
ence may  naturally  appear  in  the  government  of  different 
churches. 

The  conclusion  therefore  is,  that  the  apostolical  churches, 
generally,  exercised  the  right  of  universal  suffrage. 

On  the  same  principle,  Paul  and  Barnabas  may  be  pre- 
sumed to  have  proceeded,  when  in  their  missionary  tour, 
they  appointed  presbyters  in  the  churches  which  they  visited, 
Acts  14:  23.  The  question  here  turns  wholly  upon  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  term,  )^8iQorov7]GavTeg,  "  when  they  had 
ordained,"  or,  as  in  the  margin,  "  when  with  lifting  up  of 
hands  they  had  chosen  them," 

If,  according  to  the  marginal  reading,  we  understand, 
with  our  interpreters,  the  declaration  to  be,  that  the  apostles 
made  choice  of  these  disciples,  even  this  supposition  does 
not  necessarily  exclude  the  members  of  the  church  them- 
selves from  participating  in  the  election.  It  would  imply 
rather,  that  Paul  and  his  companion  proceeded  in  the  usual 
way  by  calling  the  attention  of  the  churches  to  the  election  of 
their  own  presbyters ;  just  as  in  the  instructions  which  Paul 
gives  to  Titus  and  to  Timothy,  respecting  the  apppointment 

^^  Cunningham's  Trans.  I.  p.  56. 
17  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec,  I.  §  87. 


60 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


of  presbyters  and  deacons  for  the  churches  of  Ephesus  and 
Crete  respectively,  the  participation  of  these  churches  in  the 
appointment  is  of  necessity  pre-supposed.  For,  "  from  the 
fact,  that  Paul,  in  committing  to  his  pupils,  as  to  Timothy 
and  Titus,  the  organization  of  new  churches,  or  of  those 
which  had  fallen  into  many  distractions,  committed  to  them 
also  the  appointment  of  the  presbyters  and  deacons,  and  di- 
rected their  attention  to  the  qualifications  requisite  for  such 
offices, — -from  this  fact  we  are  hy  no  means  to  infer,  that 
they  themselves  effected  this  alone,  without  the  participation 
of  the  churches.  Much  more,  indeed,  does  the  manner  in 
which  Paul  himself  is  elsewhere  wont  to  address  himself  to 
the  whole  church,  and  to  claim  the  co-operation  of  the 
whole,  authorize  us  to  expect,  that  at  least  where  there  ex- 
isted a  church  already  established,  he  would  have  required 
their  co-operation  also  in  matters  of  common  concern.  But 
the  supposition  is  certainly  possible,  that  the  apostle,  in 
many  cases,  and  especially  in  forming  a  new  church,  might 
think  it  best  himself  to  propose  to  the  church  the  persons 
best  qualified  for  its  officers,  and  such  a  nomination  must 
naturally  have  had  great  weight.  In  the  example  of  the 
family  of  Stephanus  at  Corinth,  we  see  the  members  of  the 
household  first  converted  in  the  city,  becoming,  also,  the  first 
to  fill  the  offices  of  the  church."i8  Nennder  also  asserts, 
that  this  mode  of  election,  by  the  whole  body  of  the  church, 
remained  unimpaired  in  the  third  century. '^ 

The  foregoing  views  of  Neander,  together  with  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  Mosheim,  give  us  a  clear  view  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  elective  franchise  was  exercised  in  the 
primitive  church,  through  the  first  three  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era.  "  To  them  (the  multitude,  or  people)  be- 
onged  the  appointment  of  the  bishop  and  presbyters,  as  well 
as  of  the  inferior  ministers, — with  them  resided  the  power 

IS  Apost.  Kirch.  Vol.  I.  c.  5.  p.  194. 

19  Neander,  Allgem.  Gesch.  I.  3^3  seq.  340—342,  Sd  ed. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  61 

of  enacting  laws,  as  also  of  adopting  or  rejecting  whatever 
might  be  proposed  in  the  general  assemblies,  and  of  expell- 
ing and  again  receiving  into  communion  any  depraved  or 
unworthy  members.  In  short,  nothing  whatever,  of  any^ 
moment,  could  be  determined  on,  or  carried  into  effect,  with- 
out their  knowledge  and  concurrence, "^o 

But  the  phrase  itself,  '/r^iQOTorrjcTavteg,  may  with  great 
probability  be  understood  to  indicate  that  the  appointment 
of  these  presbyters  was  by  a  public  vote  of  the  church. 

{a)  This  ^V  the  appropriate  meaning  of  the  term,  x^iqoto- 
vsTv,  which  is  here  used.  It  means,  to  stretch  out  the  hand, 
to  hold  up  the  hand,  as  in  voting ;  hence,  to  give  one^s  vote, 
by  holding  up  the  hand,  to  choose,  to  elect.  In  this  sense  it  is 
abundantly  used  in  classic  Greek.  Demosthenes  exhorts  the 
Athenians  in  popular  assembly  to  elect,  x^iQOtorijaca,  ten  men 
to  go  on  an  embassy  to  the  Thebans.*  Again  it  is  resolved 
by  the  senate  and  people  of  Athens  to  choose,  tXsa&cu,  five 
of  the  people  to  go  on  an  embassy,  which  embassadors,  thus 
chosen,  ]^eiQOTOvrj&tvTag,  shall  depart,  etc.  So  it  is  rendered 
by  Robinson,  who,  in  the  passage  before  us,  translates  it,  to 
choose  hy  vote,  to  appoint.  Suidas  also  renders  it  by  fxAfSa- 
fisvoi,  having  chosen.  Such  is  the  concurring  authority  of 
lexicographers. 

(|3)  This  rendering  is  sustained  hy  the  common  use  of  the 
term  by  early  Christian  writers.  The  brother  who  accom- 
panied Paul  in  his  agency  to  make  charitable  collections  for 
the  suffering  Jews  in  Judea,  was  chosen  of  the  churches  for 
this  service,  where  the  same  word  is  used,  )fEiQOTOvri&sig. 
"  It  will  become  you,"  says  Ignatius  to  the  church  at  Phila- 
delphia, *'  as  the  church  of  God,  to  choose,  )^8iQOZovi]6aiy. 
some  deacon  to  go  there,"  i.  e.,  to  the   church  at  Antioch.21 

Again,  to  the  church  at  Smyrna,  "It  will  be  fitting,  and 

2«  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  I.  §45. 

*  Oration  on  the  Crown  §  55.  and  §  9.  21  ^d  Phil.  c.  10. 

6 


62  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

for  the  honor  of  God,  that  your  church  elect,' x^iQotovtjacUf 
some  worthy  delegate,"  etc.-^ 

The  council  of  Neocaesarea  directs  that  a  presbyter 
should  not  be  chosen,  ^ly  x^iQOTOveiad^cxi,  before  he  is  thirty 
years  old.  23  The  council  of  Antioch  forbids  a  bishop  to  be 
chosen,  ■^EiQOzovEiod^m,  without  the  presence  of  the  synod, 
and  of  the  metropolitan ;  24  and  the  apostolical  canons  direct 
that  a  bishop  must  be  chosen,  xhqojoveXo&co,  by  two  or 
three  bishops.25  Again,  in  the  Greek  version  of  the  Codex 
Ecclesiae  Africanse,  the  heading  of  the  nineteenth  canon  is, 
that  a  bishop  should  not  be  chosen,  x^iQOtoreTtjd^cu,  except 
by  the  multitude,  cctto  ttoXXcov.^^ 

The  above  examples  all  relate,  neither  to  an  official  ap- 
pointment or  commission  granted  by  another,  nor  to  an  or- 
dination or  consecration,  but  to  an  actual  diction  by  a  plu- 
rality of  voters.  Do  they  not  justify  the  supposition,  that 
Paul  and  Barnabas,  like  the  apostles  in  the  case  of  Matthias, 
and  of  the  seven  deacons,  led  the  church  to  a  popular  elec- 
tion of  their  presbyters? 

[y)  This  mode  of  appointment  was  the  established  usage 
of  the  churches,  to  which  it  may  be  presumed  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas  adhered,  in  the  election  of  these  presbyters.  The 
appointment  of  Matthias  the  apostle,  of  the  seven  deacons, 
and  of  the  delegates  of  the  churches,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  was  by  a  public  vote  of  the  churches.  And  the  same 
continued  to  be  the  authorized  mode  of  appointment  at  the 
close  of  the  apostolical  age ;  as  we  learn  from  the  epistle  of 
Clement,  cited  above,  who  also  rebukes  the  church  of  Cor- 
inth for  rejecting  from  office  those  presbyters  who  had 
been  chosen  in  this  manner.27  No  other  mode  of  appoint- 
ment to  any  office  in  the  church  had,  in  any  instance,  been 

22  Ad  Smyru.  c.  11.  23  Cone.  Neoccesar.  c.  11. 

^  Cone.  Antioch.  c.  19.  ^  Can.  Apost.  c.  1. 

2^  Cited  by  Suicer,  ad  verbum, 
27  Ep.  I.  ad  Corinth.  §44.     See  p.  65.  note. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  6*3 

adopted,  so  far  as  we  are  informed  ;  from  all  which,  the  in- 
ference is,  that  presbyters,  like  all  other  ecclesiastical  officers, 
were  appointed  by  vote  of  the  church. 

(d)  This  conclusion  is  sustained  by  the  most  approved 
authorities.  According  to  Suicer,  the  primary  and  appro- 
priate signification  of  the  term  is,  to  denote  an  election  made 
hy  the  uplifting  of  the  hand,  and  particularly  denotes  the 
election  of  a  bishop  by  vote.  "  In  this  sense,"  he  adds,  "  it 
continued  for  a  long  time  to  be  used  in  the  church  denot- 
ing not  an  ordination  or  consecration,  but  an  election."28 
Grotius,29  Meyer,^^  and  De  Wette^^  so  interpret  the  passage, 
to  say  nothing  of  Beza,  Bohmer,  Rothe  and  others. 

To  the  same  effect  is  also  the  following  extract  from  Tin- 
dal.  "  We  read  only  of  the  apostles,  constituting  elders  hy 
the  suffrages  of  the  people,  Acts  14:  23,  which,  as  it  is  the 
genuine  signification  of  the  Greek  word,  )rEiQOTOvi^oavTEg,  so 
it  is  accordingly  interpreted  by  Erasmus,  Beza,  Diodati, 
and  those  who  translated  the  Swiss,  French,  Italian,  Belgic, 
and  even  English  Bibles,  till  the  Episcopal  correction,  which 
leaves  out  the  words,  by  election,  as  well  as  the  marginal 
notes,  which  affirm  that  the  apostles  did  not  thrust  pastors 
into  the  church  through  a  lordly  superiority,  b?tt  chose  and 
placed  them  there  by  the  voice  of  the  congregation."^  Tyn- 
dale's  translation  is  as  follows.  "  And  when  they  had  or- 
dened  them  seniours  by  eleccion,  in  every  congregacion, 
after  they  had  preyde  and  fasted,  they  commennd  them  to 
God,  on  whom  they  beleved." 

In  view  of  the  whole,  must  we  not  conclude,  that  presby- 
ters, like  all  other  ecclesiastical  officers,  were  elected  in  the 
apostolical  churches  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people  ^33^    And 

^  Thesaurus,  Eccl.  v.  yatQorovioj,     ^,  ^^,  ^^  Comment,  ad    locum. 

32  Rights  of  the  Church,  p.  358. 

33  "  Jt  may  not  have  occurred  to  some  of  our,  readers,"  says  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  "  that  the  Greek  word,  inxh^oia,  which  we  trans- 
late church,  was  the  peculiar  term  used  to  denote  the  general  assem- 
bly of  the  people  '.n  the  old  democracies,  and  that  it  essentially  ex- 


64  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

is  not  .ill  this  sufficient  to  justify  the  rendering  above  given, 
though  the  terra  be  also  occasionally  used  to  denote  either 
an  official  appointment,  or  the  laying  on  of  hands  ? 

2.  The  historical  argument,  from  the  early  Fathers. 

When  from  the  writings  of  the  apostles  we  turn  to  the 
records  of  history,  we  find  evidence  sufficient  to  show  that 
the  churches  continued,  even  after  the  rise  of  Episcopacy, 
to  defend  and  to  exercise  the  right  of  election, — that  great 
principle  which  is  the  basis  of  religious  liberty. 

The  earliest  and  most  authentic  authority  on  this  sub- 
ject, after  that  of  the  Scriptures  themselves,  is  derived  from 
Clement  of  Rome,  contemporary  with  some  of  the  apostles. 
This  venerable  father,  in  his  epistle  to  the  church  at  Corinth, 
about  A.  D.  96,  or,  according  to  Bishop  Wake,  "  between 
the  60th  and  70th  year  of  Christ,"  speaks  of  the  regulations 
which  were  established  by  the  apostles,  for  the  appointment 
of  others  to  succeed  them  after  their  decease.  This  ap- 
pointment was  to  be  made  with  the  consent  and  approbation 
of  the  lohole  church,  avv8vdox?]ada?jg  rtjg  ixxh](jiag  7zd(jrjg, 
grounded  on  their  previous  knowledge  of  the  qualifications 
of  the  candidate  for  this  office.  This  testimony  clearly  in- 
dicates the  active  co-operation  of  the  church  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  their  ministers.^^     "  It  may  have  been  the  custom 

presses  a  popularly  constituted  meetings  and  that  such,  in  a  great 
measure,  was  the  original  constitution  of  the  Christian  society." — 
Baudry's  Selections,  V.  p.  319. 

^*  The  passage  has  been  already  cited,  but  it  is  here  given  at  length, 
with  the  title  of  C.  J.  Hefele  :  *■'■  Jlpostolorum  institutio,  ne  de  mu- 
nere  sacbrdotali  contentio  fiat.  Legitime  electos  ac  recte  viventes  de 
munere  sun  dejicere  nefas. — Kal  ol  aTioGTokoi  rifiMV  I'yvojcav  Std  tou 
xvQiov  TjiLUov  ^IrjGov  Xqiotovj  oTi  f^ig  iorat  fnl  rov  ovu/uccrog  r^g 
tTciay.oiTtiC.  Jid  ravT7]v  oZv  tt^v  ahiav  TTQoyvomiv  tlXrjtpoTsg  nleiav 
naTtarrjaav  rovg  7rQoatQy]uh'ovg,  nai  fttra^Ci  ^ntvourjt'  StSiOHaoiv, 
oTTOjg,  idr  xoifir]&o)aii^,  Sia^f^covrai  hragov  Stt^omuao/nlvot  av(f^eg  ri^v 
kenovqyiav  uvToiv.     Tov?  ovp  naTaora&ivzag  vn    ixeivojv.,  ?j  fiera^u 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  65 

for  the  presbyters  to  propose  one  to  supply  any  vacancy 
which  occurred ;  but  it  remained  for  the  church  to  ratify  or 
to  reject  the  nomination."35 

TertuIIian  in  his  Apology  for  Christians,  against  the  hea- 
then, A.  D.  198  or  205,  says  that  the  elders  came  into  their 
office  by  the  testimony  of  the  people,  that  is,  by  the  suffrage 
or  election  of  the  people.^c  Their  free  and  independent 
suffrages  were  the  highest  testimony  which  the  people  could 
give  of  their  approbation  of  their  elders. 

The  epistles  of  Ignatius,  whether  genuine  or  spurious, 
belong  to  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  treating.  These, 
as  we  have  seen  above,  accord  to  the  church  the  right  of 
electing  their  own  delegates. 

Origen,  in  his  last  book  against  Celsus,  about  A.  D.  240, 
speaks  of  the  elders  and  rulers  of  the  churches  as  hlsyo- 
^levoi,  chosen  to  their  office.  In  his  sixth  homily  on  Leviticus, 
he  asserts  that  the  presence  of  the  people  is  required  in  the 
ordination  of  a  priest ;  and  the  reason  assigned  for  their  in- 
tervention is  to  secure  an  impartial  election,  and  the  appoint- 
ment to  this  office  of  one  who  possessed  the  highest  quali- 
fications for  it.  The  whole  passage  implies  the  active  co- 
operation of  the  people  in  the  appointment  of  their  minis- 
ters.37 

vfp  stIqwv  iXXoytfMjjv  avSguiv,  ovvsvdoxrjodG^?  rrjQ  SHuXrj-. 
a las  n dar]gy  aai  letTovfjyt'iaavTag  dfji^fircrojg  tw  iioi^vhi  xov  Xqlg- 
xov  fisra  raTTSivotp^ioovvj/Sj  TjGvyojg  xal  d^avavovjg,  fti/u,aQTVQ7}/utvovg 
re  noXXoig  XQovotg  vjruTrdvrojp,  rovTovgov  dixawjg  vojuiLOfisv  aTio^aX-^ 
kiadai  Trig  kaizovQyiag.  '^Afiaqria  ydq  ov  ficx^d  ^fiip  I'arai,  fdv  rovg 
afiifinrojg  xal  ooiojg  nQoasviyxoi'Tag  xd  So)^a  rrjg  iniaxon-^g  dno^d- 
hfjfisv. 

35  Neander,  Allgemein.  Gesch.  I.  S.  323,  2d.  ed. 

36  Fraesident  probati  quique  seniores  honorem  istum  non  pretio,  sed 
testimonio,  adepti. — Jlpol.  c.  39. 

37  Requiritur  enim  in  ordinando  sacerdote  et  praesentia  populi  ut 
sciant  oinnes,  et  eerie  sint,  quia  qui  praestantior  est  ex  omni  populo, 
qui  doctior,  qui  sanctior,  qui  in  omni  virtute  eminentior — ille  eligi- 

6* 


66  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Cyprian,  A.  D.  258,  most  fully  accords  to  the  people  the 
right  of  suffrage  in  the  appointment  of  their  spiritual  teach- 
ers, declaring  that  they  have  the  fullest  authority  to  choose 
those  who  are  worthy  of  this  office,  and  to  refuse  such  as 
may  be  unworthy.  It  was,  according  to  this  father,  an  apos- 
tolic  usage,  preserved  by  a  divine  authority  in  his  day,  and 
observed  throughout  the  churches  of  Africa  {apud  nos),  that 
a  pastor,  sacerdos,  should  be  chosen  publicly,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  people;  and  that  by  their  decision  thus  publicly 
expressed,  the  candidate  should  be  adjudged  worthy  to  fill 
the  vacant  office,  whether  of  deacon,  presbyter  or  bishop. 
In  accordance  with  these  views,  it  was  his  custom,  on  all 
•such  occasions,  to  consult  his  clergy  and  the  people  before 
proceeding  to  ordain  any  one  to  the  office  of  the  ministry.^s 

So  universal  was  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  so  reasonable, 
that  it  attracted  the  notice  of  the  emperor,  Alexander  Seve- 
Tus,  who  reigned  from  A.  D.  222  to  235.  In  imitation  of 
the  custom  of  the  Christians  and  Jews,  in  the  appointment  of 
their  priests,  as  he  says,  he  gave  to  the  people  the  right  of  re- 
jecting the  appointment  of  any  procurator,  or  chief  president 
of  the  provinces,  whom  he  might  nominate  to  such  an  office.^^ 
Their  votes,  however,  in  these  cases,  were  not  merely  testi- 
monial, but  really  judicial  and  elective. 

tur  ad  sacerdotium,  et  hoc  adstante  populo,  ne  qua  postmodum,  re- 
tractatio  cuiquam,  ne  quis  scrupulus  resideret. 

^  Plebs  obsequens  praeceptis  dominicis  et  Deum  metuens,  a  pecca- 
tore  praeposito  separare  se  debet  nee  se  ad  sacrilegi  sacerdotis  sacrifi- 
cia  miscere,  quando  ipsa  maxime  habeat  potestatem  vel  cUgendi  dig- 
nos  saccrdolcs^  vel  indignos  recusandi.  Quod  et  ipsum  videmus  de  di- 
"vina  auctoritate  descendere  ut  sacerdos,  ^;/c&e  prescnte,  sub  omnium 
oculis  deligatnr,  et  dignus  atque  idoneus  publico  judicio  ac  testimo- 
nio  comprobetur, — Diligentur,  de  traditione  divina  et  apostolica  ob- 
servatione  servandum  est  et  tenendum  quod  apud  nos  quoque,  et  fe- 
je  per  provincias  universas  tenetur,  ut  ad  ordinationes  rite  celebran- 
das  ad  earn  plebem  cui  praepositus  ordinatur,  episcopi  ejusdem  pro- 
vinciae  proximi  quique  conveniant  et  episcopus  deligatur  plebe  prae- 
sente. — Ep.  68. 

39  Larapridius,  in  Vit.  Alexandri  Severi,  c.  45. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  67 

The  authorities  above  cited  indicate  that  the  suffrages  of 
the  church  were  directed  by  a  previous  nomination  of  the 
clergy.  But  there  are  on  record  instances  in  which  the  peo- 
ple, of  their  own  accord,  and  by  acclamation,  elected  indi- 
viduals to  the  office  of  bishop  or  presbyter,  without  any  pre- 
vious nomination.  Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan,  was  elected 
in  this  manner,  A.  D.  374.40  Martin,  of  Tours,  A.  D.  375, 
was  appointed  in  the  same  manner.^i  So  also  were  Eusta- 
thius  at  Antioch,  A.  D.  31 0,'^^  Chrysostom  at  Constantinople, 
A.  D.  398,43  Eraclius  at  Hippo,44  and  Miletus  at  Antioch.45 
It  is  also  observable  that  these  examples  belong  to  a  later  age, 
the  fourth  century.  They  are  therefore  important  as  evi- 
dence, that  people  continued  even  at  this  late  period  to  re- 
tain their  rights  in  these  popular  elections. 

Ii  has  been  asserted,  that  the  people  were  denied  the  right 
of  suffrage  by  the  4th  canon  of  the  council  of  Nice.  But 
Bingham  has  clearly  shown  that  the  people  were  not  excluded 
by  this  canon  from  their  ancient  privilege  in  this  respect.46 
And  both  Riddle,47  and  bishop  Pearson,  as  quoted  by  him, 
concur  with  Bingham  in  opinion  on  this  subject.  Indeed  the 
assertion  is  sufficiently  refuted,  by  the  fact,  that  Athanasius, 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  others,  were  elected  by  popular 
vote  immediately  after  the  session  of  that  council. 

Daille  sums  up  the  evidence  on  this  subject  in  the  follow- 
ing terms: — "It  is  clear  that  in  the  primitive  times  they 
[popular  elections  and  ordinations]  depended  partly  on  the 
people,   and  not  wholly  on  the  clergy  ;  but  every  company 

40  Paulin.,  Vit.  Ambros,  Rufin.,  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  2.  c.  11 ;  Theo- 
doret,  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  4.  c.  6.  p.  666 ;  Sozomen,  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib. 
6.  c.  24. 

41  Sulpic.  Sev.,  Vit.  e.  Martini,  c.  7. 

42  Theodoret,  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  1.  c.  6. 

43  Socrat.,  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  6.  c.  2. 

44  Augustin.,  4.  Ep.  110.  al.  213. 

43  Theodoret,  Hist   Ecc.  Lib.  2.  c.  27, 

46  Book  4.  chap.  2.  §  11.  47  Christ.  Antiq.  p.  286. 


68  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

of  the  faithful  either  chose  their  own  pastors,  or  else  had 
leave  to  consider  and  to  approve  of  those  that  were  proposed 
to  them  for  that  purpose.  Pontius,  a  deacon  of  the  church 
of  Carthage,  says  that  ''  St.  Cyprian,  being  yet  a  neophyte, 
was  elected  to  the  charge  of  pastor,  and  the  degree  of  bish- 
op by  the  judgment  of  God,  and  the  favor  of  the  people."^^ 
St.  Cyprian  also  tells  us  the  same  in  several  places.  In  his 
52nd  epistle,  speaking  of  Cornelius,  he  says,  *  That  he  was 
made  bishop  of  Rome  by  the  judgment  of  God,  and  of  his 
Christ,  by  the  testimony  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  clergy,  by 
the  suffrage  of  the  people  who  were  there  present,  and  by  the 
college  of  pastors,  or  ancient  bishops,  all  good  and  pious 
men.'^9 

"  It  appears  clear  enough,  both  out  of  St.  Hierome,^^  and 
by  the  acts  of  the  council  of  Constantinople,^^  and  of  Chalce- 
don,^2  and  also  by  the  Pontificalc  Romanum,^^  and  several 
other  productions,  that  this  custom  continued  a  long  time  in 
the  church." 

This  right  in  question  is  clearly  admitted  even  in  the  Ro- 
man pontificial,  in  which  the  bishop,  at  the  ordination  of  a 
priest  is  made  to  say,  "  It  was  not  without  good  reason  that 
the  fathers  had  ordained  that  the  advice  of  the  people  should 
be  taken  in  the  election  of  those  persons  who  were  to  serve 

^^  Judicio  Dei,  et  plebis  favore,  ad  officium  sacerdotii,  et  episcopa- 
tus  gradum  adhuc  neophytus,  ut  putabatur,  novellus  electus  est. — 
Pont.  Dlac.  in  vita  Cypr. 

"•^  Factus  est  auteni  Cornelius  episcopus,  de  Dei  et  Christi  ejus 
judicio,  de  clericorum  peno  omnium  testimonio,  de  plebis,  quae  tunc 
adfuit  suffragio,  et  de  sacerdotum  antiquorum,  et  bonorum  virorum  col- 
legio. —  Cijpi-ian,  Ep.  52.  p.  97. 

=0  Hieron.,  Com.  10  .in  Ezech.  c.  33  Tom.  111.  p  935.  et  Cora,  in 
Agg.  p.  512  t.  5.  ct  Com.  1  in  Ep.  ad  Gal.  p.  271.  t.  6. 

51  Cone.  Const.,  1.  in  Ep,  ad  Damas.  p.  94  et  95.  t.  1.  Cone. 
Gener. 

52  Cone.  Chalced.,  act.  11.  p.  375.  t.  2.  Cone.  Gen.,  et  act.  16.  p. 
430,  etc. 

53  Pontific.  Rom.  in  Ordinat.  Presbyter,  fol.  38,  vide  supr.  1. 1.  c.  4. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  69 

at  the  altar ;  to  the  end  that  having  given  their  assent  to  their 
ordination  they  might  the  more  readily  yield  obedience  to 
those  who  were  so  ordained."^  This  passage  is  cited  by 
Daille,  who  remarks,  that  an  honest  canon  of  Valencia  very 
gravely  proposed  to  the  council  of  Trent,  that  this,  and  all 
such  authorities  should  be  blotted  out ;  so  that  no  trace  or 
footstep  of  them  should  remain  in  future,  for  heretics  to  bring 
against  them  for  having  taken  away  this  right! 

Bingham,^^  and  Chancellor  King,^^  and  multitudes  of  the 
most  respectable  writers  in  the  communion  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  fully  sustain  the  foregoing  representations  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  as  enjoyed  by  the  primitive  churches.  They 
are  clearly  supported  by  the  late  Dr.  Burton,^'''  and  by  Rid- 
dle, both  of  Oxford  University,  and  by  the  best  authorities 
both  ancient  and  modern.  "  The  mode  of  appointing  bish- 
ops and  presbyters,"  says  Riddle,  "  has  been  repeatedly 
changed.  Election  by  the  people,  for  instance,  has  been 
discontinued.  This  is  indeed,  in  the  estimation  of  Episco- 
palians, a  great  improvement,  but  still,  as  they  must  allow,  it 
is  a  change."5S 

For  what  term  of  time  the  several  churches  continued  in 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  right  of  suffrage,  we  are  not  dis- 
tinctly informed.  We  can  only  say  with  Mosheim,  "  This 
power  of  appointing  their  elders  continued  to  be  exercised 
by  the  members  of  the  church  at  large,  as  long  as  primitive 
manners  were  retained  entire ;  and  those  who  ruled  over  the 
churches  did  not  conceive  themselves  at  liberty  to  introduce 
any  deviation  from  the  apostolic  model."59     The  reader  will 

^  Neque  enira  frustra  k  patribus  institutum,  ut  de  electione  illorum 
qui  ad  regimen  altaris  adhibendi  sunt,  consulatur  etiam  populus; 
quia  de  vita  et  conversatione  praesentandi,  quod  nonunquam  ignoratur 
•d  pluribus,  scitur  k  paucis;  et  necesse  est,  etfacilius  ei  quis  obedien- 
tiam  exhibeat  ordinatio  cui  assensuin  praebuerit  ordinando. — PontiJ. 
Rom.  De  Ordinal.  Pres,  fol.  38. 

S3  Book  4.  c.  6.  56  Part  I.  c.  3.— c.  6. 

57  Church  History,  c.  12.  ^8  Christ.  Antiq.,  Preface,  p.  76. 

*»  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  I.  §  39. 


70  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

find  an  able  discussion  of  this  whole  subject,  also,  and  an 
extended  collection  of  authorities  in  Blondell's  treatise,  De 
Plebis  in  Electionibus  jare.^o 

II.  Abridgment  and  final  extinction  of  the  right  of  suf- 
frage. 

The  sovereign  rights  of  the  people,  and  their  free  elective 
franchise  began,  at  an  early  period,  to  be  invaded.  The 
final  result  of  these  changes  was  a  total  disfranchisement 
of  the  laity,  and  the  substitution  of  an  ecclesiastical  des- 
potism, in  the  place  of  the  elective  government  of  the  prim- 
itive church.  Of  these  changes  one  of  the  most  effec- 
tive was  the  attempt,  by  means  of  correspondence  and  ec- 
clesiastical synods,  to  consolidate  the  churches  Jjjta^pne 
church  tmivexsal,  to  impose  upon  them  a  uniform  code  of 
laws,  and  establish  an  ecclesiastical  polity  administered  by 
the  clergy.  The  idea  of  a  holy  catholic  church,  and  of  an 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy  for  the  government  of  the  same,  was 
wholly  a  conception  of  the  priesthood.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  motives  with  which  this  doctrine  of  the  unity  of 
the  church  was  promulgated,  it  prepared  the  way  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  popular  government  of  the  church. 

Above  all,  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  the  priest- 
hood aimed  a  fatal  blow  at  the  liberties  of  the  people.  The 
clergy  were  no  longer  the  servants  of  the  people,  chosen  by 
them  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  but  a  privileged  order, 
like  the  Levitical  priesthood ;  and,  like  them,  by  divine 
right  invested  with  peculiar  prerogatives.  Elated  with  the 
pride  of  their  divine  commission,  a  degenerate  and  aspiring 
priesthood  sought,  by  every  means,  to  make  themselves  in- 
dependent of  the  suffrages  of  the  people.  This  indepen- 
dence they  began  by  degrees  to  assert  and  to  exercise.  The 
bishop  began,  in  the  third  century,  to  appoint  at  pleasure 
his  own  deacons,  and  other  inferior  orders  of  the  clergy.     In 

^°  Apologia  pro.  St.  Hieron.  pp.  379 — 549. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  71 

Other  appointments,  also,  he  endeavored  to  disturb  the  free- 
dom of  the  elections,  and  to  direct  them  agreeably  to  his  own 
will.61 

And  yet  Cyprian,  even  in  the  middle  of  that  century, 
apologized  to  the  laity  and  clergy  of  his  diocese  for  appoint- 
ing one  Auretius  to  the  office  of  reader.  In  justification  of 
this  measure,  he  pleads  the  extraordinary  virtues  of  the  candi- 
date, the  urgentnecessity  of  the  case,  and  the  impossibility  of 
consulting  them  as  he  was  wont  to  do  on  all  such  occasions.62 
Such,  however,  was  the  progress  of  Episcopal  usurpation, 
that  by  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  elections  by  the 
people  were  nearly  lost  ;63  and  from  the  beginning  of  the 
fifth  century,  the  bishop  proceeded  to  claim  the  appointment 
even  of  the  presbyters,  together  with  the  absolute  control  of 
all  ecclesiastical  offices  subordinate  to  his  own  episcopate. 
But  down  to  the  fourth  century,  the  bishops  were  not  at  lib- 
erty ever  to  license  one  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  presbyter, 
without  first  obtaining  the  approbation  of  the  people.  Such 
at  least  was  still  the  rule  in  many  places.64 

Against  these  encroachments  of  ecclesiastical  ambition 
and  power  the  people  continued  to  oppose  a  firm  but  ineffec- 
tual resistance.  They  asserted,  and  in  a  measure  maintain- 
ed, their  primitive  right  of  choosing  their  own  spiritual  teach- 
ers.65     The  usage  of  the  churches  of  Africa  has  been  al- 

61  Pertsch.  Kirch.  Gesch.,  drit.  Jahrhund.  S.  439—452.  Planck, 
Gesell.  Verfassung,  I.  183. 

^  In  ordinationibus  clericis,  Fratres  carissimi,  solemus  vos  ante 
consulere,  et  mores  ac  merita  singulorum,  communi  consilio  pende- 
rari,  Ep.  33. 

*^  Pertsch.  4.  Jahrhund.  S.  263. 

6*  Riddle's  Eccl.  Chron.,  A.  D.  400.  Planck,  Vol.  I.  p.  183.  Eu- 
seb.  Eccl.  Hi.st.  6.  43. 

6^  Gieseler,  Vol.  1.  272.  For  a  more  full  and  detailed  account  of 
these  changes  of  ecclesiastical  policy,  and  of  the  means  by  which 
they  were  introduced,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  first  volume  of  J. 
G.  Planck,  Gesch.  der  Christ,  kirch.  Gesellschaftsverfassung,  Bd. 
I.  149—212,  433  seq. 


72  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

ready  mentioned.  Examples  are  given  by  Bohmer,66  in  evi- 
dence that  this  right  was  still  recognized  in  the  churches  of 
Spain  and  of  Rome.67  Later  still,  in  the  fourth  century,  an 
instance  occurred  in  the  Eastern  church,  in  Cappadocia,  of 
the  controlling  influence  of  these  popular  elections.  The 
people,  after  having  been  divided  in  their  choice  between  dif- 
ferent candidates,  united  their  suffrages  in  the  election  of  an 
individual  high  in  office  in  the  state,  who  had  not  even  been 
baptized.  He  accordingly  received  this  ordinance  at  the 
hands  of  the  bishops  present,  and  was  duly  invested  with  his 
office.  In  the  Western  church,  the  election  of  Martin  of 
Tours,  A.  D.  375,  above  mentioned,  was  carried  by  the  pop- 
ular voice,  against  the  decided  disapprobation  of  the  bishops 
present.  Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan,  A.  D.  374,  was  also 
appointed  by  the  unanimous  acclamation  of  the  multitude, 
previously  even  to  his  baptism.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
are  on  record,  instances  in  the  fourth,  and  even  in  the  fifth 
century,  when  the  appointment  of  a  bishop  was  effectually 
resisted^  by  the  refusal  of  the  people  to  ratify  the  nomination 
of  the  candidate  to  a  vacant  see.68 

But  notwithstanding  all  these  examples,  in  which  the  peo- 
ple successfully  asserted  their  ancient  right  of  suffrage,  it 
became,  as  early  as  the  fifth  century,  little  else  than  an  empty 
name.  Their  elections  degenerated  into  a  tumultuous  and 
unequal  contest  with  a  crafty  and  aspiring  hierarchy,  who 
had  found  means  so  to  trammel  and  control  the  elective  fran- 
chise, as  practically  to  direct,  at  pleasure,  all  ecclesiastical 
appointments.  The  rule  had  been  established  by  decree  of 
council,  and  often  repeated,  requiring  the  presence  and  unan- 
imous concurrence  of  all  the  provincial  bishops  in  the  election 

CO  Christ,  kirch.  Alterthumswissenschafl,  1.  S.  144  spq 
c'''  Presbyterio  vel  episcopatui,  si  eura  cleri  ac  pJebis  vocaverit  elec- 
tion  non  immerito  societur. — Siricius,  bishop  of  Rome,  A.  D.  384. 
Ep.  I.  ad  Himer.  c.  10. 

«3  Greg  Naz.,  Orat.  10.  Comp.  Oral.  14.  p.  308.  21.  p.  377.     Bing- 
ham, B.  IV.  c.  1.  §  3.     Planck,  1.  440.  n.  10. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  73 

and  ordination  of  one  to  the  office  of  bishop.  This  afforded 
them  a  convenient  means  of  defeating  any  popular  election, 
by  an  affected  disagreement  among  themselves.  The  same 
canonical  authority  had  made  the  concurrence  of  the  metropo- 
litan necessary  to  the  validity  of  any  appointment.  His  veto^ 
was  accordingly  another  efficient  expedient  by  which  to  baffle 
the  suffrages  of  the  people,  and  to  constrain  them  into  a  re- 
luctant acquiescence  in  the  will  of  the  clergy ,69 

Elections  to  ecclesiastical  offices  were  also  disturbed  by 
the  interference  of  secular  influence  from  without,  in  conse- 
quence of  that  disastrous  union  of  church  and  state,  which 
was  formed  in  the  fourth  century,  under  Constantine  the 
Great, 

"During  this  century,"  the  fourth,  "1.  The  emperors 
convened,  and  presided  in,  general  councils ;  2.  Confirmed 
their  decrees;  3.  Enacted  laws  relative  to  ecclesiastical  mat- 
ters by  their  own  authority ;  4.  Pronounced  decisions  con^ 
cerning  heresies  and  controversies ;  5.  Appointed  bishops ;. 
6.  Infficted  punishment  on  ecclesiastical  persons. 

"  Hence  arose  complaints  that  the  bishops  had  conceded 
too  much  to  the  emperors,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  some 
persons  maintained  that  the  emperors  had  left  too  much  on  the 
hands  of  the  bishops.  The  bishops  certainly  did  possess  too 
much  power  arid  influence,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  other  cler- 
gy, and  especially  to  the  disadvantage  of  Christians  at  large. 

"  Thus  the  emperor  and  the  bishops  share  the  chief  gov- 
ernment of  the  church  between  them.  But  the  limits  of 
their  authority  were  not  well  defined.  Great  part  of  the 
power  formerly  possessed  by  the  general  body  of  Chris- 
tians, the  laity,  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  civil  gov- 
ernor."70 

Agitated  and  harassed  by  the  conflict  of  these  discordant 

69  Cone.  Nic.  c.  4.  Cone.  Antioch,  e.  10.  Carthag.  IV.  c.  1,22. 
Planek,  Vol.  I.  pp.  433—452. 

'0  Riddle's  Chronology,  pp.  70,  71. 

7 


74  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

elements,  the  popular  assemblies  for  the  election  of  men  to 
fill  the  highest  offices  of  the  holy  ministry,  became  scenes  of 
tumult  and  disorder  that  would  disgrace  a  modern  political 
canvass.  "  Go  and  witness  the  proceedings  at  our  public  fes- 
tivals, especially  those  in  which,  according  to  rule,  the  elec- 
tions of  ecclesiastical  officers  are  held.  One  supports  one 
man ;  another,  another ;  and  the  reason  is,  that  all  overlook 
that  which  they  ought  to  consider,  the  qualifications,  intellect- 
ual and  moral,  of  the  candidate.  Their  attention  is  turned  to 
other  points,  by  which  their  choice  is  determined.  One  is 
in  favor  of  a  candidate  of  noble  birth ;  another,  of  a  man 
of  wealth,  who  will  not  need  to  be  supported  by  the  revenues 
of  the  church ;  a  third  votes  for  one  who  has  come  over  from 
some  opposite  party ;  a  fourth  gives  his  influence  in  favor 
of  some  relative  or  friend ;  while  another  is  gained  by  the 
flatteries  of  a  demagogue."7i  Repeated  notices  of  similar 
disturbances  occur  in  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of  that  pe- 
riod.'2 

To  correct  these  disorders,  various  but  ineffectual  expedi- 
ents were  adopted  at  different  times  and  places.  The  coun- 
cil of  Laodicea,  A.  D.  361,  c.  13,  excluded  the  multitude, 
toig  ox^oig,  the  rabble,  from  taking  part  in  the  choice  of  per- 
sons for  the  sacred  office,  apparently  with  the  design  of  pre- 
venting these  abuses,  without  excluding  the  better  portion  of 
the  laymen  from  a  participation  in  the  elections.  The  expe- 
dient, however,  was  of  little  avail. 

"  De  Sacerdot.  Lib.  3.  c.  15. 

"^^  August.,  Ep,  155.  Sjnessir,  Ep.  67.  Sidon,  Apollinar.  Lib.  IV. 
Ep.  25,  and  other  passages  collected  by  Baronius,  Annal.  303.  n.  22 
seq.  and  in  Baluzii  Miscell.  torn.  2.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  gives  the 
following  representation  of  the  unholy  contest  of  the  two  rival  can- 
didates, Damasus  and  Ursinus,  for  appointment  to  the  Episcopal  see 
at  Rome  : — "  Supra  humanum  rnodum  ad  rapiendam  episcopatus  se- 
dem  ardentes,  scissis  studiis  asperrime  conflictabantur,  ad  usque  mor- 
tis, vulnerumque  discrimina  adjumentis  utriusque  progressis.  Et  in 
certatione  superaverat  Damasus,  parte  quae  ei  favebat  instante." — 
Lib.  28.  Ef.  3. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  75 

In  the  Latin  Church,  and  especially  in  that  of  Africa,  an 
attempt  was  made  to  restore  order  and  simplicity  in  these 
elections  by  means  of  interventors ,  or  visitors,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  visit  the  vacant  diocese,  and  influence  the  clergy  and 
people  to  harmonize  their  discordant  interests,  that  thus  the 
way  might  be  prepared  for  a  quiet  and  regular  election.  By 
this  means,  the  visitor  had  a  fair  opportunity,  as  Bingham 
justly  remarks,  "  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  people,  and 
promote  his  own  interests  among  them,  instead  of  those  of 
the  church."73  This  measure  though  supported  by  Symma- 
chus,74  in  the  sixth  century,  and  by  Gregory  the  Great,''^^ 
failed  to  produce  the  desired  effect ;  and  seems  neither  to 
have  been  generally  adopted  nor  long  continued. 

Justinian,  in  the  sixth  century,  sought,  with  no  better  suc- 
cess, to  remedy  the  evils  in  question,  by  limiting  the  elective 
franchise  to  a  mixed  aristocracy,  composed  of  the  clergy,  and 
the  chief  men  of  the  city.  These  were  jointly  to  nominate 
three  candidates,  declaring  under  oath,  that,  in  making  the 
selection,  they  had  been  influenced  by  no  sinister  motive. 
From  these  three  the  ordaining  person  was  to  ordain  the  one 
whom  he  judged  best  qualified.'^^e  But  it  was  not  defined  who 
should  be  included  among  the  chief  men,  and  the  result  was 
the  loss  of  the  people's  rights,  and  an  increase  of  the  factions 
which  the  measure  was  intended  to  prevent.  The  council 
of  Aries,  A.  D.  452,  c.  54,  in  like  manner,  ordered  the  bish- 
ops to  nominate  three  candidates,  from  whom  the  clergy  and 
the  people  should  make  the  election  ;  and  that  of  Barcelona, 
A.  D.  593,  ordered  the  clergy  and  people  to  make  the  nom- 
ination, and  the  metropolitan  and  bishops  were  to  determine 
the  election  by  lot. 

But  even  these  ineffectual  efforts  to  restore,  in  some  mea- 

73  Book  II.  c  15.  §  1.     Comp.  Book  IV.  c.  11.  §  7. 

74  Ep.  5.  c.  6.  7^  £p.  Lib.  9.  Ep.  16. 

7«  Justin.,  Novell.  123.  c.  1,  137.  c.  2d.  Cod.  Lib.  1.  tit.  3.  De 
Episcop.  leg.  42. 


76  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

sure,  the  right  of  the  people,  sufficiently  show  to  what  ex- 
tent it  was  already  lost.  Indeed,  the  bishops  had  already  as- 
sumed to  themselves,  in  some  instances,  the  independent  and 
exclusive  right  of  appointing  spiritual  officers.''"^  The  em- 
peror Valentinian  III.  complains  of  Hilary  of  Aries,  that  he 
unworthily  ordained  some  in  direct  opposition  to  the  will  of 
the  people  ;  and  that,  when  they  refused  those  whom  they  had 
not  chosen,  he  collected  an  armed  body,  and  by  military 
power  forcibly  thrust  into  office  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  of 
peace. '''8  Leo  the  Great,  A.  D.  450,  asserts  the  right  of  the 
people  to  elect  their  spiritual  rulers.'''^ 

The  government  of  the  church,  from  a  pure  democracy, 
had  changed,  first  into  an  ambitious  aristocracy,  and  then  in- 
to a  more  oppressive  oligarchy,  which,  assuming  practically 
the  sentiment  of  a  crafty  tyrant,  ov'a  ayad^ov  Ttolvxoioufi?],^^ 
directed  its  assaults  against  that  most  sacred  principle  both 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty, — the  right  of  every  corporate 
body  to  choose  its  own  rulers  and  teachers.  This  extinc- 
tion of  religious  freedom  was  not  effected  in  the  church  uni- 
versally at  the  same  time,  nor  in  every  place  by  the  same 
means.  Oppressed  by  violence,  overreached  by  stratagem, 
or  awed  into  submission  by  superstition,  the  churches  sev- 
erally yielded  the  contest  at  different  and  somewhat  distant  in- 
tervals. In  Rome,  the  rights  of  the  people  were  recognized 
under  Cffilestia,  A.  D.  422,8i  and  Leo  the  Great,  A.  D.  440, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  Justinian  attempted  to  restore  in  the 
century  following.  In  Gaul,  these  rights  were  not  wholly 
lost  until  the  fifth,82  and  even  the  sixth  century.83 

77  Sidon,  Apollinar.  Lib.  TV.  Ep,  25. 

78  Valentinian  III.  Nov.  XXIV.  ad  calcem  Cod.  Theodos. 

79  Qui  praefecturus  omnibus,  ab  omnibus  eligatur.  Ep.  89.  Comp. 
Ep.  84.  c.  5. 

^  Iliad,  II.  204.     Paraphrased  by  Pope,  in  the  following  lines : 
Be  silent,  wretch,  and  think  not  here  allowed 
That  worst  of  tyrants,  an  xisurping  crowd. — Pope. 

fi  Ep.  2.  c.  .5.  «^2  Sidon,  Apollinar.  Lib.  IV.  Ep.  25. 

«3  Cone.  Orleans,  A.  D.  549.  c.  10, 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  77 

The  doctrine  that  to  the  clergy  was  promised  a  divine  gui- 
dance from  the  Spirit  of  God  had  its  influence  also  in  com- 
pleting the  subjugation  of  the  people.  This  vain  conceit, 
by  ceaseless  repetition  on  the  part  of  bishops  and  councils, 
became  an  unquestionable  dogma  of  the  church.  Once  es- 
tablished, it  had  great  influence  in  bringing  the  people  into 
passive  submission  to  their  spiritual  oppressors.  Resistance 
to  such  an  authority  under  the  infallible  guidance  of  God's 
Spirit,  vi^as  rebellion  against  high  heaven,  v^hich  the  laity  had 
not  the  impiety  to  maintain. 

"  Thus  everything  was  changed  in  the  church.  At  the 
beginning  it  was  a  society  of  brethren ;  and  now  an  abso- 
lute monarchy  is  reared  in  the  midst  of  them.  All  Chris- 
tians were  priests  of  the  living  God,  1  Pet.  2:  9,  with  hum- 
ble pastors  for  their  guidance.  But  a  lofty  head  is  uplifted 
from  the  midst  of  these  pastors.  A  mysterious  voice  utters 
words  full  of  pride ;  an  iron  hand  compels  all  men,  small 
and  great,  rich  and  poor,  freemen  and  slaves,  to  take  the 
mark  of  its  power.  The  holy  and  primitive  equality  of  souls 
is  lost  sight  of.  Christians  are  divided  into  two  strangely 
unequal  classes.  On  the  one  side,  a  separate  class  of  priests 
daring  to  usurp  the  name  of  the  church,  and  claiming  to  be 
possessed  of  peculiar  privileges  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 
On  the  other,  timid  flocks,  reduced  to  a  blind  and  passive 
submission;  a  people  gagged  and  silenced,  and  delivered 
over  to  a  proud  caste."^ 

The  interference  of  the  secular  power  with  ecclesiastical 
appointments  has  been  already  mentioned.  The  civil  mag- 
istrate often  exercised  the  same  arbitrary  power  in  these 
matters  which  the  priesthood  had  usurped  over  the  people, 
so  that  the  oppressor  became  in  turn  the  oppressed.  This 
secular  interference  began  with  Constantine.  Both  in  the 
Eastern  and  the  Western  church,  it  was  often  the  means  of 

^  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  I.  p.  31. 
7* 


78  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

disturbing  and  overruling  the  appointment  of  ecclesiastical 
officers,  and  finally  itself  completed  the  extinction  of  reli- 
gious liberty.  Valentinian  III.  A.  D.  445,  for  example, 
enacted,  that  all  bishops  of  the  Western  empire  should  obey 
the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  should  be  bound  to  appear  before 
him  at  his  summons.^^  Constantius  appointed  Liberius  to 
be  bishop  of  Rome,  A.  D.  353,  and  the  Gothic  kings  in  the 
sixth  century  exercised  the  same  arbitrary  power  over  the 
churches  of  France  and  Spain.^s 

In  the  Eastern  church,  Theodosius  I.  also  appointed  Nec- 
tarius  bishop  of  Constantinople,  A.  D.  381  ;8''  and  Theodo- 
sius II,  in  the  same  summary  manner,  appointed  Proilus, 
A.  D.  434,  to  succeed  Maximian  in  the  same  place.  Of 
the  vehemence  with  which  the  church  sometimes  protested 
against  these  encroachments  of  secular  power,  we  have  a 
remarkable  example  in  the  sixth  canon  of  the  council  of 
Paris,  A.  D.  557.  "  Seeing  that  ancient  custom  and  the 
regulations  of  the  church  are  neglected,  we  desire  that  no 
bishop  be  consecrated  against  the  will  of  the  citizens.  And 
only  such  persons  shall  be  considered  eligible  to  this  digni- 
ty, who  may  be  appointed,  not  by  command  of  the  prince, 
but  by  the  election  of  the  people  and  clergy ;  which  elec- 
tion must  be  confirmed  by  the  metropolitan  and  the  other 
bishops  of  the  province.  Any  one  who  may  enter  upon  this 
office  hy  the  mere  authority  of  the  king,  shall  not  be  recogni- 
zed by  the  other  bishops ;  and  if  any  bishop  should  recog- 
nize him,  he  must  himself  be  deposed  from  his  office."^^ 
The  eighth  council  of  Rome,  also,  A.  D.  853,  forbade, 
on  pain  of  excommunication,  ''  all  lay  persons  whatsoever, 
even  princes  themselves,  to  meddle  in  the  election  or  pro- 
motion of  any  patriarch,  metropolitan,  or  any  other  bishop 

85  Riddle's  Eccl.  Ciiron.  p.  103. 

^  Simonis,  Vorlesungen  Ober  diechristlichen  AllerthUmer  p.  106. 

»*'  Bohmer's  Alterthumswissenschaft,  Vol,  1.  p.  151. 

^s  Cone.  Paris,  c.  8. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  79 

whatever,  declaring  withal,  that  it  is  not  fit  that  lay  persons 
should  have  anything  at  all  to  do  in  these  matters;  it  becom- 
ing them  rather  to  be  quiet,  and  patiently  to  attend  until 
such  time  as  the  election  of  the  bishop  who  is  to  be  chosen, 
be  regularly  finished  by  the  college  of  the  church.''^^ 

Such  demands  for  the  institution  of  apostolical  and  canon- 
ical elections,  as  they  were  called ,90  were,  however,  but  rare- 
ly made,  and  never  with  success.  The  clergy  were  brought 
to  bow  to  a  usurpation  more  absolute  and  despotic  than 
that  by  which  they  had  at  first  wrested  from  the  laity  those 
rights,  which,  in  their  turn,  they  were  reluctantly  compell- 
ed to  resign  to  the  secular  power,  until  at  length  the  pope, 
that  prince  of  tyrants,  became  the  supreme  head  of  all 
power,  whether  ecclesiastical  or  secular.  Innocent  III.  at 
the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  described  himself  as  "  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter,  set  up  by  God  to  govern  not  only  the 
church  but  the  whole  world.  As  God,"  said  he,  "  has  placed 
two  great  luminaries  in  the  firmament,  the  one  to  rule  the 
day,  and  the  other  to  give  light  by  night,  so  has  he  establish- 
ed two  great  powers,  the  pontifical  and  the  royal ;  and  as 
the  moon  receives  her  light  from  the  sun,  so  does  royalty  bor- 
row its  splendor  from  the  papal  authority  !" 


REMARKS. 

The  right  of  suffrage  involves  all  the  great  principles  of  a 
popular  government.     The  rights  and  privileges  belonging  to 

^^  Neminem  laicorum  principum,  vel  Potentum  semet  inserere 
election!  vel  promotioni  Patriarchas,  vel  Metropolitae,  aut  cujuslibet 
episcopi,  etc.  prffisertim  cum  nullam  in  talibus  potestatem  quenquam 
potestativorum,  vel  ceterorura  laicorum  habere  conveniat,  sed  potius 
silere,  acaltendere  sibi,  usque  quo  regulariter  h.  collegio  ecclesise  sus- 
CJpiat  finera  electio  futuri  pontificis. — Cone.  8.  Con,  12.  t.  3.  Cone.  p. 
282. 

^  Gregory  Naz.  Oral.  21. 


80  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

such  a  government,  the  apostles,  under  the  guidance  of  wis- 
dom from  on  high,  studiously  sought  to  protect,  in  framing 
the  constitution  which  they  gave  to  the  churches ;  as  the  fol- 
lowing remarks  may  serve  to  show. 

1.  The  right  of  suffrage  is  the  first  element  of  a  popular 
government,  in  the  church. 

The  right  to  elect  our  rulers  and  teachers,  presupposes  the 
right  to  adopt  our  own  form  of  government,  to  frame  our 
constitution,  to  enact  our  laws,  to  exercise  the  prerogatives 
and  enjoy  the  privileges  of  a  free  and  independent  body. 
The  enjoyment  of  this  right  constitutes  freedom ;  the  ab- 
sence of  it,  slavery. 

2.  The  right  to  elect  their  own  pastors  and  teachers  is  the 
inherent  right  of  every  church. 

If  it  be  true,  that  all  men  are  endowed,  by  their  Creator, 
with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  "  life,  liber- 
ty, and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  then  much  more  is  liberty 
of  conscience,  and  the  pursuit  of  future  blessedness,  the  in- 
herent, inalienable  right  of  man.  What  is  the  life  that  now 
is,  to  that  which  is  to  come ;  or  the  happiness  of  earth,  to 
the  bliss  of  heaven?  Such  are  the  religious  to  the  civil 
rights  of  any  people,  all  of  which  are  involved  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  elective  franchise,  and  are  lost  to  a  disfranchised 
laity.  This  consideration  was  lately  urged  in  the  hearing  of 
the  writer,  with  great  pertinency  and  force,  by  a  speaker  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  on  a  motion  relating  to  the  religious 
liberty  of  the  church  of  Scotland.  "  The  choice  of  a  pas- 
tor," the  noble  Lord  proceeded  to  say,  "  was  really  a  measure 
of  more  importance,  and,  by  the  members  of  that  church, 
was  regarded  as  an  event  more  interesting  than  the  election 
of  a  member  of  Parliament ;  for  it  affected  their  religious  in- 
terests,— interests  to  them  and  to  their  children,  high  as  hea- 
ven, and  lasting  as  eternity." 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  81 

3.  The  right  of  suffrage  preserves  a  just  balance  of  pow- 
er between  the  lay  members  of  the  church  and  the  clerical 
order, — between  the  laity  and  the  clergy. 

The  sacred  office  of  the  clergy,  coupled  with  learning  and 
talents,  gives  them,  under  any  form  of  government,  a  con- 
trolling influence.  If  to  all  this  be  added  the  exclusive  right 
of  making  and  executing  the  laws,  and  of  electing  the  offi- 
cers, the  balance  of  power  between  the  clergy  and  the  peo- 
ple is  destroyed.  The  restraints  and  checks  which  the  clergy 
ought  to  feel  against  the  exercise  of  arbitrary  power  are  re- 
moved. The  history  of  the  church  sufficiently  shows  that 
the  dangerous  prerogatives  of  prelatical  power  cannot,  with 
safety,  be  entrusted  to  any  body  of  men,  however  great  or 
good.  Accordingly,  as  in  all  free  governments,  the  sove- 
reign power  is  vested  in  the  people,  so  in  the  primitive  church, 
this  great  principle  of  religious  as  well  as  of  civil  liberty  was 
carefully  observed.  The  people  were  made  the  depositaries 
of  the  sovereign  power.  The  enactment  of  the  laws  and  the 
appointment  of  their  officers  belonged  to  them.^i 

4.  The  loss  of  this  right  brings  with  it  the  extinction 
of  religious  liberty. 

The  free  church  of  Scotland,  by  their  late  secession,  have 
had  the  magnanimity  to  resign  the  heritage  of  their  ances- 
tors, and  go  out  from  the  sanctuary  where  their  fathers 
worshipped,  taking  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  rather 
than  submit  to  the  loss  of  their  religious  rights.  In  the 
manifesto,  which  they  have  published,  as  their  declaration 
of  independence,  they  complain  that  their  religious  liberty 
has  been  invaded  by  the  civil  courts ;  whereas  the  church 
of  Christ  is,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free,  and  indepen- 
dent of  all  spiritual  jurisdiction  from  the  state.  We  subjoin 
an  extract  from  this  manifesto,  which  clearly  sets  forth  the 

»»  Riddle,  Eccl.  Chr.  p.  13.  Euseb.  JSccl.  Hist.  Lib.  5.  24. 


82  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  V 

wrongs  that  they  must  suffer  under  this  spiritual  bondage 
to  which  they  have  nobly  refused  to  bow  down  themselves  : 

(«)  "  That  the  courts  of  the  church  as  now  established,  and 
members  thereof,  are  liable  to  be  coerced  by  the  civil  courts 
in  the  exercise  of  their  spiritual  functions ;  and  in  particular 
in  their  admission  to  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry,  and  the 
constitution  of  the  pastoral  relation,  and  that  they  are  sub- 
ject to  be  compelled  to  intrude  ministers  on  reclaiming  con- 
gregations in  opposition  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
church,  and  their  views  of  the  word  of  God,  and  to  the  liber- 
ties of  Christ's  people. 

(6)  "  That  the  said  civil  courts  have  power  to  interfere 
with  and  interdict  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  adminis- 
tration of  ordinances  as  authorized  and  enjoined  by  the 
church  courts  of  the  establishment. 

(c)  *'  That  the  said  civil  courts  have  power  to  suspend  spir- 
itual censures  pronounced  by  the  church  courts  of  the  estab- 
lishment against  ministers  and  probationers  of  the  church, 
and  to  interdict  their  execution  as  to  spiritual  effects,  func- 
tions, and  privileges. 

{d)  "  That  the  said  civil  courts  have  power  to  reduce  and 
set  aside  the  sentences  of  the  church  courts  of  the  establish- 
ment, deposing  ministers  from  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry, 
and  depriving  probationers  of  their  license  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel, with  reference  to  the  spiritual  states,  functions,  and  priv- 
ileges of  such  ministers  and  probationers, — restoring  them 
to  the  spiritual  office  and  status  of  which  the  church  had  de- 
prived them. 

(e)  "That  the  said  civil  courts  have  power  to  determine  on 
the  right  to  sit  as  members  of  the  supreme  and  other  judica- 
tories of  the  church  by  law  established,  and  to  issue  inter- 
dicts against  sitting  and  voting  therein,  irrespective  of  the 
judgment  and  determination  of  the  said  judicatories. 

(/)  "  That  the  said  civil  courts  have  power  to  supersede 
the  majority  of  a  church  court  of  the  establishment,  in  regard 


*  ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  83 

to  the  exercise  of  its  spiritual  functions  as  a  church  court, 
and  to  authorize  the  minority  to  exercise  the  said  functions, 
in  opposition  to  the  court  itself  and  to  the  superior  judicato- 
ries of  the  establishment. 

(g)  *'  That  the  said  civil  courts  have  power  to  stay  proces- 
ses of  discipline  pending  before  courts  of  the  church  by  law 
established,  and  to  interdict  such  courts  from  proceeding 
therein. 

(h)  "  That  no  pastor  of  a  congregation  can  be  admitted  in- 
to the  church  courts  of  the  establishment  and  allowed  to  rule 
as  well  as  to  teach,  agreeably  to  the  institution  of  the  office 
by  the  Head  of  the  church,  nor  to  sit  in  any  of  the  judicato- 
ries of  the  church,  inferior  or  supreme,  and  that  no  addition- 
al provision  can  be  made  for  the  exercise  of  spiritual  disci- 
pline among  members  of  the  church,  though  not  affecting 
any  patrimonial  interests,  and  no  alteration  introduced  in 
the  state  of  pastoral  superintendence  and  spiritual  discipline 
in  any  parish  without  the  coercion  of  a  civil  court. 

"  All  which  jurisdiction  and  power  on  the  part  of  the  said 
civil  courts  severally  above  specified,  whatever  proceedings 
may  have  given  occasion  to  its  exercise,  is,  in  our  opinion,  in 
itself  inconsistent  with  Christian  liberty, — with  the  authority 
which  the  Head  of  the  church  hath  conferred  on  the  church 
alone." 

5.  The  free  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise  is  one  of  the 
most  effectual  means  of  guarding  against  the  introduction  of 
unworthy  men  into  the  ministry. 

The  common  people  best  know  the  private  character  of 
the  minister.  They  have  a  deep  interest  in  it.  They  seek 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  themselves  and  their  children,  in  the 
selection  of  their  pastor.  These  are  precisely  the  considera- 
tions assigned  for  continuing  to  the  people  the  right  of  elec- 
tion in  the  ancient  church,  after  the  rise  of  Episcopacy.92 

^2  It  was,  according  to  Cyprian,  a  divine  tradition  and  apostolical 


84  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

On  the  contrary,  he  who  has  a  living  at  his  disposal,  is  often 
ignorant  of  the  true  character  of  hira  who  seeks  a  preferment. 
A  thousand  sinister  motives  may  bias  his  judgment.  He 
may  be  the  most  unsuitable  man  possible  for  such  a  trust.®^ 
In  a  word,  who  does  not  know  that  the  curse  of  a  graceless 
ministry  has  ever  rested  upon  the  church,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  wherever  they  have  not  enjoyed  the  right  of  electing 
their  own  pastors?  The  rich  and  quiet  livings  of  an  estab- 
lishment, especially  if  coupled  with  the  authority,  the  dis- 
tinction and  emoluments  of  the  Episcopal  office,  will  ever  be 
an  object  of  ambition  to  worldly  men.  "  Make  me  a  bishop," 
said  an  ancient  idolater,  "  make  me  a  bishop,  and  I  will  sure- 
ly be  a  Christian." 

6.  The  free  enjoyment  of  the  elective  franchise,  is  one  of 
the  best  means  of  guarding  the  church  against  the  inroads  of 
error. 

The  Puseyism  of  the  day  is  a  delusion  of  the  priesthood. 
The  writer  has  often  been  assured  in  England  that  few,  com- 
paratively, of  the  common  people  are  led  away  by  it.  And 
in  this  country  we  have  lately  seen  the  laity  nobly  struggling 
to  resist  diocesan  despotism.  So  it  has  ever  been  ;  the  delu- 
sions and  heresies  that  have  overrun  the  church,  have  origi- 

custom,  observed  by  the  African  church,  and  throughout  almost  all 
the  provinces,  that  the  election  is  to  be  performed  in  the  presence  of 
the  people  of  the  place,  who  fully  know  every  man's  life,  and  in  their 
very  intimate  acquaintance,  have  carefully  observed  his  habitual  con- 
versation. Episcopus  deligatur,  plebe  prsesente,  quae  singnlorum  vi- 
tam  plenissime  novit,  et  uniuscujusque  actum  de  ejus  conversatione 
perspexcrit . . .  Coram  omni  synagoga  jubet  Deus  constitui  sacerdotem, 
id  est,  instruit  atque  ostendit  ordinationes  sacerdotales  nonnisi,  sub  pop- 
uli  assistentis  conscientia  fieri  opportere  ut,  plebe  praesentc^  eel  dete- 
ganturmalGrum  crimina,  vel  honorum  merita  piaedicentur,  .  .  .  Quod 
utique  idciro  tam  diligenter  et  caute,  convocata  plebe,  tota  gerebatur, 
ne  quis  ad  altaris  ministerium,  vel  ad  sacerdotalem  locum  indio-nus 
ohreperet — Cyprian,  Ep.  68. 
93  Tracts  for  the  Times,  No.  59.  p.  413. 


ELECTIONS  BY  THE  CHURCH.  85 

nated  with  the  clergy.^^  But  in  a  ministry  having  no  de- 
pendence upon  the  people,  will  be  found,  if  any  where,  ir- 
religious and  dangerous  men,  who,  caring  little  for  the  real 
interests  of  their  flocks,  will  substitute  their  own  delusions^^ 
for  those  simple  truths  which  an  intelligent  and  virtuous  peo- 
ple delight  to  hear,  and  which  a  godly  ministry  would  desire 
to,  preach.  Leave  then,  the  choice  of  the  clergyman  in  the 
hands  of  the  people.  They  will  most  carefully  seek  for  one 
who  is  sound  in  the  faith,  and  devoted  to  the  sacred  work ; 
they  will  soonest  reject  one  who  may  seek  to  pervert  the 
truth  of  God.  Upon  the  laity  alone  can  we  rely  to  see  to 
it  that  the  church  is  furnished  with  ministers  who  shall 
be  the  best  defenders  of  the  faith,  by  the  authority  of  their 
learning  and  the  piety  of  their  lives. 

7.  The  right  of  suffrage  promotes  mutual  attachment 
between  pastor  and  people,  and  the  spiritual  edification  of 
the  church. 

94  « If  you  were  to  take  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  England, 
you  would  find  a  burst  of  righteous  indignation  against  them  (the 
Tractarians).  They  would  say,  If  we  are  to  have  popery,  let  us  have 
honest  old  popery,  at  once.  If  you  are  right,  you  do  not  go  far 
enough;  and  if  you  are  wrong,  you  go  too  far" — Rev.  Mr.  Stowell, 
cited  in  Letters  to  the  Laity,  p.  34. 

^  "  When  the  prerogative  and  pre-eminence  of  any  single  person 
in  the  church  began  to  be  in  esteem,  not  a  few  who  failed  in  their  at- 
tempts of  attaining  it,  to  revenge  themselves  on  the  church,  made  it 
their  business  to  invent  and  propagate  pernicious  heresies.  So  did  The- 
bulis,  at  Jerusalem,  Euseb.,  lib.  4.  cap.  22.  and  Valentinus,  Tertul.  ad 
Val.,  cap.  4.  and  Marcion,  at  Rome,  Epiphan.  Hosres,  42.  Montanus 
fell  into  his  dotage  on  the  same  account;  so  did  Novitianusat  Rome, 
Euseb.  lib.  7.  cap.  43.  and  Arius,  at  Alexandria.  Hence  is  that  cen- 
sure of  them  by  Lactantius,  lib.  4.  cap.  30.  '  li  quorum  fides  fuit  lu- 
brica,  cum  Deum  nosse  se  et  colere  simularent,  augendis  opibus  et 
honori  studentes,  affectabant  maximum  sacerdotium,  et  a  potioribus 
victijsecedere  cum  sufFragatoribus  maluerunt,  quam  eosferre  prasposi- 
tos  quibus  concupierant  ipsi  ante  prseponi." — Owen,  Works,  Vol.  XX. 
p.  169. 

8 


86  THE  PRIMITIVE   CH13RCH. 

The  people  receive  instruction,  with  affectionate  interest 
and  confidence,  from  the  lips  of  the  preacher  whom  they 
have  appointed  over  themselves,  from  the  man  of  their  own 
choice ;  while  he,  in  turn,  speaks  to  them  in  the  fulness  and 
confidence  of  reciprocal  love.  On  the  other  hand,  the  min- 
istrations of  a  priesthood  which  is  imposed  upon  a  people, 
are  felt  to  be  a  hireling  service,  in  which  neither  speaker 
nor  hearer  can  have  equal  interest. 

Finally.     It  produces  the  most  efficient  ministry. 

This  is  a  general  conclusion,  drawn  from  the  foregoing 
considerations,  and  a  position  established  by  the  whole  histo- 
ry of  the  church.  It  contradicts  all  history,  and  all  the  prin- 
ciples of  human  conduct,  to  suppose,  that  an  independent  Es- 
tablishment, in  which  the  priesthood  are  settled  down  at  ease 
in  their  livings,  can  have  the  vigorous  efficiency  and  moral 
power  of  a  clergy,  the  tenure  of  whose  office  depends  upon 
their  activity  and  usefulness. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES. 

The  discipline  of  the  apostolical  churches  was  adminis- 
tered by  each  body  of  believers  collectively  ;  and  continued 
to  be  under  their  control  until  the  third  or  fourth  century. 
About  this  period  the  simple  and  efficient  discipline  of  the 
primitive  church  was  exchanged  for  a  complicated  and  op- 
pressive system  of  penance  administered  by  the  clergy.  But 
the  church  itself  possesses  the  only  legitimate  authority  for 
the  administration  of  discipline.  Its  members  form  a  vol- 
untary association.  They  have  the  right  to  enact  their  own 
laws,  and  to  prescribe  such  conditions  of  membership  with 
themselves,  as  they  may  judge  expedient  and  agreeable  to  the 
word  of  God.  The  right  to  administer  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline was  guaranteed  to  the  churches  from  their  first  organi- 
zation under  the  apostles ;  but  was  finally  lost  by  the  usur- 
pation of  the  priesthood  under  the  Episcopal  hierarchy. 

I.  The  right  to  administer  ecclesiastical  discipline  was 
originally  vested  in  the  church  itself. 

The  argument  in  support  of  this  proposition  is  derived : 

1.  From  the  Scriptures. 

2.  Froj^  the  early  Fathers. 

3.  From  the  authority  of  modern  ecclesiastical  writers. 

4.  From  the  fact,  that  the  entire  government  of  the  church 
was  vested  in  that  body  itself. 


88  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

1.  The  argument  from  Scripture. 

Our  Lord  himself  is  generally  supposed  to  teach,  in  Matt. 
18  :  15 — 18,  that  the  public  discipline  of  offenders  should 
be  administered  by  the  authority  of  the  church. 

These  instructions  are  understood  to  have  been  given 
prospectively,  and  to  contain  the  rules  by  which  the  disci- 
pline of  the  Christian  church  should  be  administered.  But 
whether  given  prospectively,  with  reference  to  the  Christian 
church  which  was  about  to  be  established,  or  designed  to 
exhibit  the  proper  mode  of  procedure  in  the  discipline  of 
the  Jewish  synagogue,  they  doubtless  develope  the  principle 
on  which  ecclesiastical  censure  should  be  conducted  under  the 
Christian  dispensation.  Vitringa  has  clearly  shown  that  the 
directions  of  our  Lord,  in  this  instance,  accord  with  the  es- 
tablished usage  of  the  synagogue,  which,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  was  the  pattern  of  the  primitive  church,  both  in  its 
government  and  forms  of  worship.  He  has  shown,  fully, 
that  this  sentence  was  to  be  pronounced  in  accordance  with 
a  popular  vote  in  public  assembly ;  and  that  the  same  course 
of  procedure  was  to  be  the  rule  of  the  Christian  church. 
The  church  therefore,  like  the  synagogue,^  is  the  ecclesias- 
tical court  of  impeachment  for  the  trial  of  offences.  If  pri- 
vate remonstrance  proves  ineffectual,  the  case  is  to  be  brought 
before  the  church  convened  in  public  assembly ;  to  be  ad- 
judged by  a  public  vote  of  that  body,  after  the  manner  of 
the  Jewish  synagogue. 

This  rule  of  discipline  was  also  established  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  by  apostolical  authority. 

We  have  on  record  one  instance  of  a  trial  before  the 
church  which  was  instituted  by  the  command  of  the  apostle 
Paul,  and  conducted  throughout  agreeably  to  his  instruc- 
tions.    A  Christian  convert  in  Corinth,  and  a  n|pmber  of 

^  Vitringa,  De  Synagoga  Vet.  Lib.  3.  p.  1.  c.  9.  Augusti,  Denk- 
wOrd  gkeiten,  IX.  S.  43.  seq.  Pfaff,  De  Originibus  Juris  Eccles. 
p.  99, 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  89 

the  church  which  had  recently  been  established  in  that  city, 
had  maintained  an  incestuous  connexion  with  his  father's 
wife.  This  shocking  sin,  unexampled  even  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, the  apostle  rebukes  with  righteous  abhorrence.  The 
transgressor  ought  to  be  put  away  from  among  them ;  and, 
uniting  with  them  as  if  present  in  their  assembly  convened 
for  the  purpose,  Paul  resolves  to  deliver  him  unto  Satan,  in 
the  name,  and  with  the  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  i.  e., 
by  the  help  and  with  the  authority  of  the  Lord,  1  Cor.  5  : 
3—5. 

Upon  this  passage  we  remark : 

(a)  The  decision  was  not  an  official  act  of  the  apostle, 
a  sentence  pronounced  by  his  authority  alone.  It  was  the 
act  of  the  church.  Absent  in  body,  but  present  in  spirit- 
with  them  when  assembled  together,  the  apostle  pronounces 
his  decision  as  if  acting  and  co-operating  with  them.  By 
this  parenthetic  sentence,  "  When  ye  are  gathered  together, 
and  my  spirit,"  he  indicates  the  intervention  and  co-opera- 
tion of  the  church  in  the  sentence  pronounced  upon  the 
transgressor.  "  The  apostle,"  says  De  Wette,^  "  qualifies 
the  earnestness  with  which  he  speaks  in  the  third  verse,  by 
reference,  first,  to  the  authority  of  Christ,  and  secondly,  to 
the  co-operation  of  the  church ;  agreeably  to  the  republican 
spirit  of  ancient  Christianity,  personating  himself  as  present 
in  spirit  in  their  assembly."  Such  also  is  Neander's  inter- 
pretation of  the  passage.  "  When  the  apostle  speaks  of 
an  excommunication  from  the  church,  he  regards  himself  as 
united  in  spirit  with  the  whole  church,  1  Cor.  5:  4,  setting 
forth  the  rule,  that  their  action  is  requisite  in  all  such  con- 
cerns of  general  interest.^"  Even  in  this  very  chapter,  he  re- 
fuses to  be  himself  the  judge  in  such  cases,  submitting  them  to 
the  church  themselves.     "  What  have  I  to  do  to  judge  them 

2  Comment,  ad  locum. 

3  Allgem.  Gesch.  I.  S.  292.     Comp.  S.  350.     Apost.  Kirch.  I.  pp. 
319,  320. 

8* 


90  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

that  are  without  ?"  i.  e.,  men  of  the  world, "  Do  not  ye  judge 
them  that  are  within  ?"  i.  e.,  members  of  the  church.  *'  But 
them  that  are  without  God  judgeth,"  nQiveiy  or  rather  x^tj^gr, 
will  judge,  which  is  the  approved  reading.  "  Therefore  put 
away  from  among  yourselves  that  wicked  person,'^  vs.  12,  13. 

The  severe  censure  with  which  the  apostle  reflects  upon 
the  Corinthians  for  tolerating  the  offender  so  long,  shows 
that  the  responsibility  rested  with  them.  They  should  have 
put  away  this  offence  from  among  them.^  But  if  it  was 
wholly  the  act  of  the  apostle,  why  censure  them  for  neglecting 
to  do  that  which  they  had  no  right  or  authority  to  do  1  Are 
the  members  of  the  Episcopal  church  to  be  blamed  for  the 
general  neglect  of  discipline  in  their  communion,  while  the 
clergy  have  the  sole  power  of  administering  that  discipline? 
Neither  could  the  Corinthians  deserve  censure,  unless  they 
had  authority  to  administer  the  discipline  which  they  had  neg- 
lected. Both  here,  and  in  2  Cor.  2:  3 — 11,  the  apostle  re- 
fers distinctly  to  their  neglect  in  this  matter. 

Again,  in  2  Cor.  2 :  6,  he  speaks  of  the  excommunica- 
tion as  the  act  of  the  church.  The  punishment  was  inflict- 
ed, VTio  rojv  ttXeiovoov,  "  of  many,"  i.  e.,  by  the  many,  the 
majority.  Bilroth  paraphrases  this  in  connection  with  the 
preceding  verse,  as  follows  :  "  Whether  he,  or  the  offen- 
der, have  caused  grief  to  me,  comes  not  into  consideration. 
It  is  not  that  /  must  suffer  for  him,  but  you ;  at  least,  a  part 
of  you ;  for  I  will  not  be  unjust,  and  charge  you  all  with 
having  been  indifferent  concerning  his  transgressions.  Paul 
proceeds  still  further,  v.  6 ;  he  calls  those  who  had  reprehend- 
ed the  transgressor,  the  majority,  who  had  condemned  his 
vice  and  been  grieved  by  it." 

Once  more,  the  apostle  does  not  himself  restore  the  trans- 
gressor, now  penitent  for  his  sin ;  hut  exhorts  the  Corinthians 
to  do  it.     But  if  the  church  had  themselves  the  authority 

4  Mosheim,  Institutiones  Majores,  P.  11.  c.  3.  §  14. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCH.  91 

to  receive  him  again  to  their  communion,  had  they  not  also 
the  right  of  censure?  "The  punishment  which  they  had 
extended  over  him,  by  excluding  him  from  their  communion, 
is  declared  to  be  sufficient,  since  he  had  reformed  himself, 
(on  Ixavov,  see  Winer,  p.  297).  The  apostle  himself,  there- 
fore, proposes,  v.  7,  that  they  should  again  treat  him  in  a 
friendly  manner,  and  comfort  him,  in  order  that  he  might 
not  be  worn  away  by  over-much  griefs  In  v.  10,  again,  he 
signifies  his  readiness  to  assent  to  their  decisions;  whom 
they  forgive,  he  forgives  also,  and  because  thei/  had  forgiven 
him. 

(b)  This  sentence  was  an  actual  excommunication ;  not  a 
judicial  visitation  analogous  to  that  upon  Simon  Magus,  A-cts 
13:  11.  By  this  sentence  he  was  removed  from  the  church 
of  Christ,  and  reduced  to  his  former  condition  as  a  heathen 
man.  This,  according  to  the  most  approved  commentators, 
is  the  full  meaning  of  the  phrase,  naQadovvai  t^  Zojzava. 
The  world,  in  the  angelology  of  the  Jews,  and  agreeably  to 
the  Scriptures,  comprises  two  great  divisions ;  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  and  the  kingdom  of  Satan.  By  this  sentence  of 
excommunication,  the  incestuous  person  is  transferred  from 
the  visible  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  to  the  dominion  of  Satan, 
and  in  this  sense  delivered  unto  him. 

(c)  The  ultimate  object  of  this  discipline  was  the  rejormtt' 
tion  of  the  o fender ;  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the 
spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  was  not 
2l  penance,  an  arbitrary,  prelatical  infliction  of  pains  and  pen- 
alties, but  a  disciplinary  process  for  the  spiritual  benefit  of 
the  individual.    • 

(d)  It  is  questionable,  perhaps,  whether  the  sentence  was 
accompanied  with  the  Judicial  infliction  of  any  disease  what- 
ever. Many  of  the  most  respectable  commentators  under- 
stand, by  the  delivering  "  to  Satan,  for  the  destruction  of  the 
flesh,"  the  visitation  of  some  wasting  malady.     The  phrase- 

*  Bilroth,  Comment,  ad  locum. 


92  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

ology  doubtless  admits  of  such  a  construction,  and  the  lan- 
guage of  the  apostle  on  other  occasions  seems  to  favor  it. 
Com.  1  Cor.  11;  30.  1  Tim.  1:  20.  But  the  consequences 
of  this  excommunication  were  of  themselves  sufficient,  it 
may  be,  to  justify  this  strong  expression,  the  destruction  of 
the  flesh.  To  the  Jews,  under  the  old  dispensation,  and  to 
primitive  Christians  under  the  new,  the  sentence  of  excom- 
munication was  no  light  matter.  It  was  a  withering  curse. 
It  was  a  civil  death.  It  involved  a  total  exclusion  from  kin- 
dred, from  society,  from  all  those  charities  of  life,  which 
Christians  were  wont  to  reciprocate  even  with  the  heathen.6 
This  construction,  again,  is  given  to  the  passage  by  commen- 
tators of  high  authority. 

But  is  any  bodily  disease  intended  1  Flesh,  (Solq^,  often 
denotes  the  carnal  propensities,  the  sinful  appetites  and  pas- 
sions.  Gal.  5:  17,  19.  6:  8.  Eph.  2:  3.  Col.  2:  11.  The 
subjugation,  the  putting  away  of  these,  is  distinctly  implied 
in  the  ultimate  design  of  this  discipline, — the  salvation  of 
the  spirit, — and  is  not  this  all  that  is  intended  in  the  oXs- 
d^Qov  ztjg  6aQ>i6g,  the  destruction  of  the  flesh  1  However 
that  may  be,  it  is  not  essential  to  our  present  purpose. 
Whatever  may  have  been,  to  the  guilty  person,  the  conse- 
quences of  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  that  sentence 
proceeded  from  the  church  acting  at  the  suggestion  and  with 
the  advice  of  the  apostle. 

An  excommunication  somewhat  similar  is  described  briefly 
in  1  Cor.  16:  22, — "  If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  let  him  be  anathema  maran-atha."     The  word  anath- 

6  Josephus  relates,  that  those  who  were  excommunicated  from  the 
Essenes  often  died  after  a  miserable  manner,  and  were  therefore,  from 
motives  of  compassion,  received  again  when  at  the  point  of  death. 
In  this  instance,  the  oath  of  the  Essenes  obliged  them  to  refuse  such 
food  as  the  excommunicated  person  might  find  ;  but  v/as  not  the  case 
equally  bad,  when  all  were  bound,  not  only  to  refuse  him  subsistence, 
but  every  expression  of  kindness  and  charity?  Comp.  Jahn's  Ar- 
chaology,  §  523.  Home's  Introduction,  B.  11.  c.  3.  §  4.  Neander, 
Allgem.  Gesch.  1.  373,  2d  edit. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  93 

ema  corresponds  to  the  Hebrew  D*;\h,  which  denotes  either 
anything  given  up  to  God,  or  devoted  to  destruction.  It 
was  a  form  of  excommunication  familiar  to  the  Jews,  which 
was  pronounced  publicly  upon  the  offender,  and  excluded 
him  from  all  communion  whatever  with  his  countrymen^ 
Such  was  the  anathema^  a  solemn  sentence  of  excommunica- 
tion, publicly  pronounced  upon  the  transgressor.  The  phrase, 
Maran-atha,  is  the  Syro-Chaldaic  nnN;  ^^"^^j  The  Lord 
Cometh^  i.  e.  to  judgment.  The  whole,  taken  together,  im- 
plies that  the  transgressor  is  separated  from  the  communion 
of  the  church,  and  abandoned  to  the  just  judgment  of  God. 
AH  that  the  apostle  seems  to  demand  of  the  Corinthians  re- 
specting the  offender  is,  that  they  should  exclude  him  from 
their  society,  so  that  he  might  cease  to  be  a  member  of  the 
church,  verses  12,  13.  He  pronounces  no  further  judg- 
ment upon  him,  but  expressly  refers  to  the  future  judgment 
of  God. 

In  review,  therefore,  of  these  important  passages,  several 
things  are  worthy  of  particular  remark. 

(a)  The  sentence  of  exclusion  proceeded  not  from  the 
pastor  of  the  church,  hwi  from  the  church  collectively. 

(^)  The  excommunication  is  styled  a  punishment,  Initi- 
fiia.  But  the  apostle  distinguishes  it  both  from  the  civil 
penalties  which  attended  the  ban  of  excommunication  among 
the  Jews,  and  from  the  judicial  sentence  of  God  ;  regarding 
the  whole  transaction  as  a  ecclesiastical  act,  intended  to 
express  just  abhorrence  of  the  crime  and  merited  censure 
of  it. 

(y)  The  reason  assigned  for  the  restoration  of  the  offender 
was  repentance, — 7.v7irj, — sorrow  for  his  sin,  to  which  the 
apostle  probably  refers  in  a  subsequent  passage,  7:  10,  when 
he  says,  "  Godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not 
to  be  repented  of" 

'  Jahn's  Archaology,  §  258.  Du  Pin,  De  Antiqua  Disciplina, 
Diss.  3.  c.  2.  p.  272. 


94  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

(d)  He  was  restored  to  the  communion  and  fellowship  of 
the  church,  as  he  had  been  excluded,  bi/  the  public  consent, 
the  vote  of  that  body.  In  accordance  with  these  views,  the 
apostle  exhorts  the  Corinthians  to  separate  from  them  any 
other  immoral  person,  whether  he  be  a  fornicator,  or  cove- 
tous, or  an  idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extor- 
tioner. 1  Cor.  5:  11.  And  the  Galatians  he  exhorts  to  re- 
store, in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  one  who  may  have  been 
overtaken  in  fault.  Now  this  right  of  judging  and  acting, 
both  in  the  expulsion  of  the  immoral  and  the  restoration  of 
the  penitent,  obviously  vests  in  those  who  hold  it,  the  power 
of  ecclesiastical  censure.8  Comp.  2  Thess.  3:  14,  and  Rom. 
16:  17. 

It  was,  therefore,  the  privilege  of  the  apostolical  church  to 
administer  its  own  discipline  by  a  free  and  public  decision  in 
its  own  body,  a  right  which  accords  with  every  just  principle 
of  religious  liberty,  while  it  clearly  illustrates  the  popular 
character  of  the  primitive  constitution  of  the  church.  For, 
as  in  their  elections,  so  in  their  discipline,  the  apostolical 
churches  were  doubtless  in  harmony  one  with  another,  and 
may  justly  be  presumed  to  have  observed  the  same  rules  of 
fellowship.  Based  on  the  same  principles,  and  governed  by 
similar  laws,  one  example  may  suffice  to  illustrate  the  policy 
of  all.9 

2.  Argument  from  the  early  fathers. 

Few  passages,  comparatively,  occur  in  their  writings  re- 
lating immediately  to  the  point  under  consideration.  But 
enough  can  be  derived  from  them  to  show  that  the  church 

8  Rights  of  the  Church,  by  Tindal,  p.  39. 

'  On  this  whole  subject,  comp.  Vitringa,  De  Synagoga,  Lib.  3.  p. 
1.  c.  10.  Pertsch,  Kirch.  Hist.  I.  4to.  S.  469  seq.  Recht.  Eccles. 
Kirchenbanns,Vorrede,  Ausgab,  1738,  4.  C.  M.  PfafF,  De  Originibiis 
Juris  Eccl.  pp.  10—13.  JNeander's  Allgem.  Gesch.  S.  349  seq.  71, 
98,  etc. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES,  95 

continued,  for  two  or  three  centuries,  to  regulate  her  own 
discipline  by  the  will  of  the  majority,  as  expressed  either 
by  a  direct  popular  vote,  or  through  a  representative  delega- 
tion chosen  by  the  people. 

Clemens  Romanus,  the  only  apostolical  father  belonging 
strictly  to  the  first  century,  and  contemporary  with  several 
of  the  apostles,  throughout  his  epistle  treats  the  church  of 
Corinth  as  the  only  court  of  censure.  He  addresses  his 
epistle,  A.  D.  68  or  98,  not  to  the  bishop,  but  to  the  entire 
body  of  believers.  This  circumstance  is  worthy  of  particu- 
lar notice,  inasmuch  as  the  epistle  is  written  in  relation  to 
a  case  of  discipline,  and  not  to  enforce  the  practical  duties 
of  religion.  The  church  at  Corinth  was  recognized  as  hav- 
ing authority  in  the  case  under  consideration.  The  epistle 
of  Polycarp,  also,  treating  of  the  same  general  subject,  is 
addressed  to  the  church  at  Philippi,  recognizing  in  the 
same  manner  the  right  of  the  church  to  take  cognizance 
of  offences. 

Clement,  in  his  epistle,  reflects  severely  upon  the  Corin- 
thians for  their  treatment  of  their  religious  teachers,  some  of 
whom  they  had  rejected  from  the  ministry.  To  do  this  with- 
out good  reason,  he  assures  them  "  would  be  no  small  sin" 
in  them,io  and  earnestly  exhorts  them  to  exercise  a  charitable, 
orderly,  and  submissive  spirit.  But  he  offers  no  hint,  that 
they  had  exceeded  the  limits  of  their  legitimate  authority, 
even  in  deposing  some  from  the  ministry;  on  the  contrary, 
he  recognizes  the  right  of  the  church  to  regulate,  at  their 
discretion,  their  own  discipline,  and  the  duty  of  all  to  ac- 
quiesce in  it.  "  Who  among  you  is  generous  ?  who  is  com- 
passionate? who  has  any  charity  ?  Let  him  say  whether  this 
sedition,  this  contention,  and  these  schisms  be  on  my  ac- 
count. I  am  ready  to  depart, — to  go  whithersoever  you 
please,  and  to  do  whatsoever  ye  shall  command  me,  only  let 

^°  Chauncey's  Episcopacy,  pp.  77,  78. 


96  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  flock  of  Christ  be  in  peace  with  the  ministers  that  are 
set  over  them."ii 

The  above  passage  is  twice  quoted  by  Chancellor  King, 
of  the  Episcopal  church,  in  proof  that  the  laity  were  mem- 
bers of  the  ecclesiastical  court  for  the  trial  of  offences,  "  and 
judges  therein. "12  And  Riddle,  of  the  same  communion, 
concurs  with  him  in  opinion.  "  Clement,"  says  this  author, 
*'  recommends  those  on  whose  account  the  dissensions  had 
arisen,  to  retire  and  to  submit  to  the  will  of  the  majority."i3 
These  censures  to  which  Clement  urges  them  to  submit,  he 
characterizes  as  "  the  commands  of  the  multitude j  ta  ttqocs- 
raaaofieva  vtzo  rov  n'kri&ovg" 

The  epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the  Philippians,  written,  ac- 
cording to  bishop  Wake,  A.  D.  116  or  117,  affords  us,  indi- 
rectly, a  similar  example  of  the  deportment  of  the  church 
towards  a  fallen  brother.  This  venerable  father  was  greatly 
afflicted  at  the  defection  of  Valens,  a  presbyter  of  that  church, 
who  had  fallen  into  some  scandalous  error.  But  he  entreats 
the  charitable  consideration  of  the  church  towards  the  of- 
fender, urging  them  to  exercise  moderation  towards  him ; 
and  on  similar  occasions  to  seek  to  reclaim  the  erring,  and 
to  call  them  back,  in  the  spirit  of  kindness  and  Christian 
charity.  1'*  The  address  and  exhortation,  throughout,  pro- 
ceed on  the  supposition,  that  the  duty  of  mutual  watchful- 
ness belongs  to  the  brethren  of  the  church  collectively.  It 
is  not,  however,  a  clear  case  of  church  discipline,  though 
this  may  be  implied. 

Next  in  succession  is  Tertullian.  He  has  given,  in  his 
Apology  for  the  Christians,  an  account  of  the  constitution 
of  their  society  or  church,  together  with  the  nature  and  cir- 
cumstances of  its  religious  worship  and   discipline.     The 

"  El  Sid  ejue  ardaig  xal  fQtg  Hal  ayja/xara  txxoj^o),  aTcetuij  ov  lav 
^ovXrjad's^  xcu  ttoio)  tcc  TtQoaraaoo/Ltsva  i'tto  too  7i?^ij&ovg. — £p.  ad 
Cor.  c.  54   Comp.  §  44. 

12  Prioiitive  Church,  B.  I.  c.  11.  §  6,  7.  §  2. 

"  Christian  Antiquities,  p.  9.  "  Comp.  Ep.  c.  11. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  97 

passage  in  question  is,  in  several  respects,  one  of  the  most 
important  extant  in  the  writings  of  the  early  fathers.  Let 
us,  however,  confine  our  attention  at  present  to  that  part  of 
it  which  relates  to  their  mode  of  administering  ecclesiasticali 
censure.  This  Apology  was  written,  probably,  about  A.  D- 
198  or  199,  or,  at  the  latest,  in  205.  "  We,  Christians,'" 
says  Tertullian,  "  are  one  body  by  our  agreement  in  reli- 
gion, and  our  unity  of  discipline,  and  bonds  of  hope,  spei 
foedere,  being  animated  with  one  and  the  same  hope."  He- 
then  proceeds  to  describe  their  public  worship  as  consisting 
in  prayer  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  and  then  adds, 
"  Surely  from  the  sacred  oracles  we  strengthen  our  faith,  we 
encourage  our  hope,  we  establish  our  trust  [in  God],  and,  by 
the  divine  precepts,  press  the  duties  of  religion.  Here,  also, 
we  exhort  and  reprove,  and  pass  the  divine  censure, — [the- 
sentence  of  excommunication].  For,  the  judgment  is  given 
with  great  solemnity,  and  as  in  the  presence  of  God.  And 
it  is  regarded  as  the  most  impressive  emblem  of  the  final 
judgment,  when  one  has  so  sinned  as  to  be  banished  from 
the  prayers,  the  assemblies,  and  the  holy  communion  of  the 
church."i5 

We  are  a  society,  corpus  sumus ;  we  are  an  associated 
body,  in  which  seems,  of  necessity,  to  be  implied  the  idea  of 
a  voluntary,  deliberative  and  popular  assembly; — and  the 
tenor  of  the  entire  passage,  viewed  in  its  connection,  forci- 
bly impresses  us  with  the  conviction,  that  the  "  divine  cen- 
sure"  was  inflicted   by  the  united  decision  of  that  body. 

'^  Corpus  sumus  de  conscientia  religionis  et  disciplinae  unitate  et 

spei  foedere Certe  fidem,  Sanctis  vocibus  pascimus,  spera  eri- 

gimus,  fiduciam  figirnus,  disciplinam  praeceptorum  nihilominus  in- 
culcationibus,  densamus ;  ibidem  etiam  exhortationes,  castigationes, 
et  censura  dlvina.  Nam  et  judicatur  magno  cum  pondere,  ut  apud 
certos  de  Dei  conspectu  ;  summumque  futuri  judicii  praejudicium  est, 
si  quis  ita  deliquerit  ut,  a  communicatione  orationis  et  conventus  et 
onmis  sancti  commercii  relegetur. — ^poL  39.  Comp.  §  62,  also  J.  H. 
Bohmer,  Diss.  3.  p.  151. 

9 


yo  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Certain  approved  elders,  probati  quique  senioreSf  presided; 
but  nothing  is  said  to  indicate  that  they  even  'pronounced  the 
sentence,  as  the  officers  of  the  church.  How^  extraordinary 
the  omission,  then,  if  these  elders  had  already,  within  the 
space  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  usurped  the  preroga- 
tives, and  assumed  the  rights,  which  by  divine  authority  were 
originally  accorded  to  the  church, — of  regulating  her  own  dis- 
cipline by  her  public  deliberative  assembly?  Chancellor 
Kingjis  and  even  the  "great  Du  Pin," '^  though  himself  a 
Roman  Catholic,  both  cite  the  above  passage,  as  evidence 
that  the  discipline  of  the  church  continued  to  be  administer- 
ed, as  from  the  beginning  it  had  been,  by  public  vote  of  the 
church ;  the  clergy  being  understood  to  have  a  joint  action 
and  influence  in  their  deliberations. 

On  another  occasion,  Tertullian  remarks,  that  the  crimes 
of  idolatry  and  of  murder  are  of  such  enormity,  that  the 
charity  of  the  churches  is  not  extended  to  such  as  have  been 
guilty  of  these  offences. '^ 

We  come  next  to  Cyprian,  who  was  contemporary  with 
Tertullian,  and  died  about  forty  years  later.  In  consider- 
ing the  authority  of  Cyprian,  let  the  reader  bear  in  mind 
the  following  remarks  of  Riddle  relative  to  this  celebrated 
father.  **In  these  writings  of  Cyprian,  as  well  as  in  all  his 
works,  we  are  especially  delighted  with  the  sincere  and  prim- 
itive piety  of  the  author ;  while  the  chief  subject  of  our  re- 
gret and  disapprobation  are  his  mistaken  views  concerning 
the  constitution  of  the  church,  and,  especially,  his  assertion 
of  undue  power  and  prerogative  on  behalf  of  christian  min- 
isters ; — of  such  influence  and  authority  as  the  apostles  nev- 
er sanctioned,  and  such  as  no  pastors  who  have  thoroughly 
imbibed  the  apostolic  spirit  would  wish  to  exercise  or  to  pos- 
sess."i9     But  notwithstanding  this  "  undue  power  and  pre- 

16  Prim.  Christ.  P.  I.  c.  VII.  §  4. 

17  Du  Pin's  Antiqua  Disciplina,  Diss.  3.  c.  1. 

1**  Neque  idololatriae,  neque  sanguini  pax  ab  ecclesiis  redditur. — 
De  Pudicit.  c.  12.  i»  Christian  Antiquities,  p.  99. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  99 

rogative"  which  Cyprian  ascribes  to  christian  ministers,  he 
uniformly  recognizes,  and  most  fully  asserts,  the  right  of  the 
church  to  direct  in  the  discipline  of  its  members.  About 
the  year  250,  the  emperor  Decius  issued  an  edict  command- 
ing the  Christians  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  To  escape  the 
requisitions  and  penalties  of  this  edict,  Cyprian,  then  bishop 
of  Carthage,  was  compelled  to  fly  for  his  life,  and  continued  in 
exile  about  sixteen  months.  But  many  of  his  church,  under 
the  relentless  persecution  that  ensued,  yielded  an  apparent 
compliance  with  the  emperor's  impious  command.  Others, 
without  compliance,  had  the  address  to  obtain  a  certain 
certificate  from  the  prosecuting  officer,  which  freed  them 
from  further  molestation.  All  such  persons,  however,  were 
denominated  the  lapsed,  lapsi,  and  were  excommunicated  as 
apostates.  The  system  of  canonical  penance,  as  it  was  call- 
ed, was  so  far  established  at  this  time,  that  this  class  of  of- 
fenders were  required  to  fulfil  the  forms  of  a  prescribed  and 
prolonged  penance  before  they  could  be  restored  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  church.  Many  of  the  lapsed,  however,  touch- 
ed with  a  sense  of  their  guilt,  pleaded  for  an  abatement  of  the 
rigor  of  these  austerities,  and  an  earlier  and  easier  return  to 
the  communion  of  the  church.  To  this  course  a  party  in 
the  church,  were,  for  various  reasons,  strongly  inclined  ;  and 
some  were  actually  restored  in  the  absence  of  the  bishop. 
This  irregularity  was  severely  censured  by  Cyprian,  who, 
however,  in  his  epistles  and  writings  relative  to  the  case  of 
the  lapsed,  often  recognizes  the  right  of  the  people  to  be  a 
party  in  the  deliberations  and  decisions  respecting  them. 
The  clergy  who  had  favored  this  abuse,  he  says,  "  shall  give 
an  account  of  what  they  have  done,  to  me,  to  the  confessors,^® 
and  to  the  whole  church.''^^ 

^  "  It  was  the  privilege  of  the  confessors^  that  is,  of  persons  who 
had  suffered  torture,  or  received  sentence  of  death,  to  give  to  any  of 
the  lapsed  a  written  paper,  termed  a  letter  of  peace ;  and  the  bearer 
was  entitled  to  a  remission  of  some  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline."— Burtons  History  of  the  Church,  Chap   15. 

2'  Acturi  et  apud  nos  et  apud  confessores  ipsos  et  apud  plebem 


100  THE  PRIxMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Again  he  says,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  church,  "  When 
the  Lord  shall  have  restored  peace  unto  us  all,  and  we  shall 
all  have  returned  to  the  church  again,  we  shall  then  examine 
all  these  things,  you  also  being  present  and  judging  of  tlicm.^^ 
In  the  conclusion  of  the  same  epistle  he  adds,  "  I  desire  then 
that  they  would  patiently  hear  our  counsel  and  wait  for  our 
return,  that  then,  when  many  of  us,  bishops,  shall  have  met 
together,  we  may  examine  the  certificates  and  desires  of  the 
blessed  martyrs,  according  to  the  discipline  of  the  Lord,  in 
the  presence  of  the  confessors,  and  according  to  your  toiU."^ 

Again,  in  his  epistle  to  his  people  at  Carthage,  in  which 
he  laments  the  schism  of  Felicissimus,  he  assures  them  that 
on  his  return,  he  with  his  colleagues  will  dispose  of  the  case 
agreeably  to  the  loill  of  his  people^  and  the  mutual  council  of 
both  clergy  and  people.23  The  two  offended  sub-deacons 
and  acolyths,  he  declares,  shall  be  tried,  not  only  in  the  pre- 
sence of  his  colleagues,  but  before  the  whole  people.^"^  The 
above  and  other  similar  passages  are  often  cited  in  evidence 
of  the  agency  which  the  people  still  ctmtinued,  in  the  middle 
of  the  third  century,  to  exert  in  the  administration  of  eccle- 
siastical censure.25     Will  any  one  presume  to  say,  that  in  re- 

universam  causam  suam,  cum  Domino  permittente,  in  sinum  matris 
ecclesiae  recolligi  coeperimus. — Ep.  10.  al.  9. 

^  Cum,  pace  nobis  omnibus  a  Domino  prius  data,  ad  ecclesiam  re- 
gredi  coeperimus,  tunc  examinabunlur  singula,  praesentibvs  et  judi- 
eantibus  vobls. — Audiant  quaeso,  patientur  consilium  nostrum,  ex- 
pectent  regressionem  nostram;  ut  cum  ad  vos,  per  Dei  misericordiam 
venerimus,  convocati  episcopi  plures  secundum  Domini  disciplinam, 
et  confessorum,  praesentiam  et  vestram  quoque  sententiam  martyrum 
litteras  et  desideria  examinare  possimus. — Ep.  12.  al.  11. 

23  Cum  collegis  meis,  quibus  praesentibus,  secundum  arbitrium 
quoque  vestrum  et  omnium  nostrum  commune  consilium,  sicut  se- 
mel  placuit  ea  quae  agenda  sunt,  disponere  pariler  et  limare  poteri- 
mus. —  Ep.  40. 

^4  Non  tantum  cum  collegis  meis,  sed  cum  plebe  ipsa  universa. — 
Ep-  34.     Crimina — publice  a  nobis  et  phhe  cognoscerentur. — Ep.  44. 

^  Comp.  Daille,  Right  Use  of  the  Fathers,  B.  2.  c.  6.  pp.  328—330. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  101 

fusing  to  decide  upon  any  case,  or  to  exercise  any  autliority, 
Clement  only  condescends  kindly  to  regard  the  will  of  the 
people,  without  acknowledging  their  right  to  be  consulted  1 
We  ask  in  reply,  Is  this  the  language  and  spirit  of  prelacy? 
Could  a  modern  diocesan  so  speak,  and  perform  all  his  duties 
with  such  scrupulous  regard  to  the  will  of  his  people,  with- 
out exciting  in  their  minds  the  idea  of  that  religious  liberty, 
which,  from  the  beginning,  the  church  was  accustomed  to 
enjoy,  and  which  it  was  so  much  encouraged  to  exercise  ? 
Under  such  instructions  as  those  of  Clement,  it  could  have 
learned  but  slowly  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  illustrate,  at  least,  the  usage  of 
the  church  at  Carthage.  Between  this  church  and  that  at 
Rome,  under  Cornelius,  there  was,  at  this  time,  the  greatest 
harmony  of  sentiment  in  relation  to  the  discipline  of  the 
church.  And,  from  the  correspondence  between  the 
churches,  which  is  recorded  in  the  works  of  Cyprian,  there 
is  conclusive  evidence  that  their  polity  was  the  same.  This 
is  so  clearly  asserted  by  Du  Pin,  that  I  shall  dismiss  this 
point  after  citing  his  authority.  After  making  the  extract 
from  Tertullian,  which  has  been  given  above,  and  others 
from  Cyprian,  similar  to  those  which  have  already  been  cited, 
he  adds,  "  From  whence  it  is  plain,  that  both  in  Rome  and 
at  Carthage,  no  one  could  be  expelled  from  the  church,  or 
restored  again,  except  with  the  consent  of  the  people." 
This,  according  to  the  same  author,  was  in  conformity  with 
apostolical  precedent  in  the  case  of  the  incestuous  person  at 
Corinth.26 

Origen,  again,  of  Caesarea  in  Palestine,  speaks  of  the 
conviction  of  an  offender  before  the  whole  church,  im  na- 
(jijg  trjg  ixKXtjctag,  as  the  customary  mode  of  trial.27    With 

26  De  Antiqua  Disciplina,  Diss.  3.  pp.  248,  249. 

27  IT^og  St  TO  Soxovv  oy.XrjQov  TTQvg  rovg  rd  fldxrova  '^/iiaQXTjxoTag^ 
iiTtoi  rig  civ  oTi  ovk  t^sori  dig  t^ijg  fii^  axovoavra.,  to  tqltov  anovaat, 
wc  Sid  TovTO  firiKtri  tivat  ojg  t&vixof  xal  Tikoivtjv,  i^  fiTjyiiTt  §srj&ijv(u 

9* 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  authority  of  Origen  we  may  join  that  of  Chrysostom  at 
Constantinople.  In  commenting  upon  1  Cor.  5:  3 — 5,  he 
represents  the  complaint  of  the  apostle  to  be  that  the  Corin- 
thians had  not  put  away  that  wicked  person  from  among 
them;  "  showing  that  this  ought  to  be  done  without  their 
teacher,"^  and  that  the  apostle  associates  them  with  himself, 
*'  that  his  own  authority  might  not  seem  to  be  too  great"  in 
the  transaction.  Theodoret  also  expresses  much  the  same 
sentiments  upon  the  passage  under  consideration.29 

These  authorities  are  derived  both  from  the  Eastern  and 
tlie  Western  church.  As  ancient  expositions  of  the  apostol- 
ical rule,  and  as  examples  of  the  usage  of  the  churches  in 
the  ages  immediately  succeeding  that  of  the  apostles,  they 
indicate  that  throughout  this  period  ecclesiastical  discipline 
was  administered  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  the  people, 
and  by  their  decision.  The  bishop  and  clergy,  instead  of 
holding  in  their  own  grasp  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en, co-operated  with  the  church  in  its  deliberations ;  and  acted 
as  the  official  organ  of  the  assembly  in  executing  its  deci- 
sions. Neither  was  the  ban  of  the  church  wielded  in  terror, 
as  it  has  often  been  by  an  arbitrary  priesthood  to  accomplish 
their  own  sinister  ends. 

The  penitent  was  restored,  also,  in  the  spirit  of  kind- 
ness and  christian  forgiveness,  by  the  joint  consent  of  the 
same  body  which  had  originally  excluded  him  from  its  com- 
munion. 

This  point  deserves  distinct  consideration,  as  another  in- 

Tou  inl  TtdoTjg  Tfjg  ixTiXtjaias.— Comment,  in  Matt.,  Tom,  13.  p.  612. 
Com.  p.  613. 

^  JeiKvve  on  Se  yojQlq  tov  ScSaatcdXov  to  ysviadtu  i'dat  'iva.  fiij  86^t] 
TtoX^Tj  tir  rj  avd'twia. 

Horn.  15,  ad  1  Cor.,  Tom,  10.  p.  126. 
29  Theodoret,  Comment,  ad  locum,  Opera,  Tom.  3,  p.  141,     Comp, 
Blondell,  De  jure  plebis  in  regimine  ecclesiastico,  where  many  other 
authorities  are  given. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  103 

dication  of  the  religious  liberty  enjoyed  by  the  church.  Paul 
submitted  to  the  church  at  Corinth  the  restoration  of  the 
offender  whom  they  had  excluded  from  their  communion. 
Tertullian  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  penitent  to  cast  himself 
at  the  feet  of  the  clergy,  and  kneeling  at  the  altar  of  God, 
to  seeJ^  the  pardon  and  intercessions  of  all  the  brethren.^^ 
Cyprian  in  the  passage  cited  above,  declares,  that  the  lapsed 
who  had  been  excluded  from  the  church,  must  make  their 
defence  before  all  the  people,  apud  plehem  universam.  "  It 
was  ordained  by  an  African  synod,  in  the  third  century, 
that,  except  in  danger  of  death,  or  of  a  sudden  persecu- 
tion, none  should  be  received  unto  the  peace  of  the  church, 
without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  people.^'^^  Natalis, 
at  Rome,  in  the  first  part  of  the  third  century,  threw  him- 
self at  the  feet  of  the  clergy  and  laitt/,  and  so  bewailed  his 
faults,  that  the  church  was  moved  with  compassion  for  him, 
and  with  much  difficulty  he  was  received  into  its  commu- 
nion.32  The  same  is  related  of  one  of  the  bishops,  who 
was  restored  to  the  church  at  Rome,  under  Cornelius,  to 
lay  communion,  "  through  the  mediation  of  all  the  people 
then  present."^  Serapion,  at  Antioch,  was  also  refused  ad- 
mission to  that  church,  no  one  giving  attention  to  him.^ 
At  Rome,  then,  in  Africa,  in  Asia,  and  universally,  the  pen- 
itent was  restored  to  Christian  communion,  by  the  authority 
of  the  church  from  which  he  had  been  expelled. 

If  it  were  necessary  to  adduce  further  evidence  in  vindi- 
cation of  the  right  of  the  people  to  administer  the  discipline 
of  the  [church,  it  might  be  drawn  from  the  acknowledged 
fact,  that  the  people,  down  to  the  third  or  fourth  century, 

3°  Presbyteris  advolvi,  et  caris  Dei  adgeniculari  omnibus  fratribus 
legationes  deprecationis  suae  injungere. — De  PoenUentia^  c.  9. 

31  Cyprian,  Epist.  59.  The  same  fact  is  also  asserted  by  Du  Pin, 
in  the  passage  quoted  above. 

32  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  5.  c.  28. 

33  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  6.  c.  43. 
3"  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  6.  c.  44. 


104  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

retained,  and  not  unfrequently  exercised,  the  right  even  of 
deposing  from  the  ministry.  The  controversy  of  the  people 
of  Corinth  with  their  pastors,  as  indicated  in  the  epistle  of 
Clement,  has  been  already  mentioned ;  and  the  case  of  Va- 
lens  deposed  from  the  ministry  by  the  church  at  Philippi. 
To  these  may  be  added  the  instances  of  Martialis  and  Basi- 
lides,  bishops  of  Leon  and  Astorga  in  Spain,  who  were  de- 
posed by  their  people  for  idolatry.  From  this  sentence  of 
the  people  they  appealed  to  several  bishops  in  Africa. 
These,  after  hearing  the  case  in  common  council,  A.  D.  258, 
affirmed  the  act  of  the  people.  The  result  of  their  delibe- 
rations was  communicated  by  Cyprian,  from  which  decision 
the  extract  below  is  taken,  in  which  he  fully  accords  to  the 
people  the  right  both  to  choose  the  worthy  and  depose  the 
unworthy  :  eligendi  dignos  sacerdotes  et  indignos  recusandL 
**  Many  other  such  like  passages,"  says  King,  "  are  found  in 
that  Synodical  Epistle,  which  flatly  asserts  the  people's  pow- 
er to  depose  a  wicked  and  scandalous  bishop,"35  and  with 
him  Bingham  substantially  agrees.36  And  again,  by  Dr. 
Barrow,  of  the  Episcopal  church :  "  In  reason,  the  nature 
of  any  spiritual  office  consisting  in  instruction  in  truth,  and 
guidance  in  virtue  toward  the  attainment  of  salvation,  if  any 
man  doth  lead  into  pernicious  error  or  impiety,  he  thereby 
ceaseth  to  be  capable  of  such  office;  as  a  blind  man,  by  be- 
ing so,  doth  cease  to  be  a  guide.  No  man  can  be  bound  to 
follow  any  one  into  the  ditch,  or  to  obey  any  one  in  prejudice 

^^  Prim.  Chris.  P.  1.  c.  6.  The  following  passage  is  an  example  of 
such  an  assertion.  Inde  per  temporuin  et  successionum  vices  epis- 
coporum  ordinatio  et  ecclesiae  ratio  decurrit  ut  ecclesia  super  episco- 
pos  conslltuater  et  omnis  actus  ecclesiae  per  eosdem  praepositos  gu- 
bernetur.  Cum  hoc  itaque  lege  divina  fundatum  sit,  miror  quosdam, 
audaci  temerilate,  sic  mihi  scribere  voluisse  ut  ecclesiae  nomine  lite- 
ras  facerent,  quando  ecclesia  in  episcopo  et  clero  et  in  omnibus  stan- 
tibus [i.  e.  who  had  apostatized]  sit  constituta. —  Ep.  33.  al.  27. 

^  Book  16.  c.  1.  Comp.  Neander,  Allgem.  Kirch.  Gesch.  11. 
S.  341. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  105 

to  his  own  salvation.  If  any  pastor  should  teach  bad  doc- 
trine, or  prescribe  bad  practice,  his  people  may  reject  and 
disobey  him. "37 

From  these  censures  of  a  popular  assembly  an  appeal 
would  be  made,  as  in  the  case  before  us,  to  a  synodical  coun- 
cil, or  to  the  neighboring  bishops.  For  this  reason,  they 
are  sometimes  represented  as  the  ecclesiastical  court  for  the 
trial  of  the  clergy.  Such  they  were  at  a  subsequent  period ; 
but  in  the  primitive  church  it  was,  as  appears  from  the  fore- 
going authorities,  the  right  of  the  church  to  exercise  her  dis- 
cipline over  both  laity  and  clergy.  The  greater  includes 
the  less.  The  right  to  depose  a  scandalous  bishop,  of  neces- 
sity supposes  the  right  to  expel  from  their  communion  an 
unworthy  member  of  humbler  rank.  The  conclusion  is  ir- 
resistible, that,  as  in  the  highest  act  of  ecclesiastical  censure, 
so  in  smaller  offences,  the  discipline  of  the  church  was  con- 
ducted with  the  strictest  regard  to  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  its  members. 

S.  Argument  from  the  authority  of  modern  ecclesiastical 
writers. 

Authority  is  not  argument.  But  the  opinion  of  those  who 
have  made  ecclesiastical  history  the  study  of  their  lives,  is 
worthy  of  our  regard.  The  concurring  opinion  of  many 
such  becomes  a  valid  reason  for  our  belief.  What  then  is 
their  authority? 

Valesius,  the  learned  commentator  on  Eusebius,  says  that 
"  the  people's  suffrages  were  required  when  any  one  was  to 
be  received  into  the  church,  who  for  any  fault  had  been  ex- 
communicated."38  This  is  said  in  relation  to  the  usage  of 
the  church  in  the  third  century. 

The  authority  of  Du  Pin,  the  distinguished  historian  of 

37  Barrow's  Works,  Vol.  T.  p.  744.  Comp.  also,  Pertsch,  Kirch. 
Hist.  I.  S.  370.     Mosheim,  Can.  Recht,  p.  60. 

38  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  6.  44.     Com.  Lib.  5.  28. 


106  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  Roman  Catholic  communion,  whose  opinion  upon  this 
point  is  worthy  of  all  confidence,  is  to  the  same  effect ;  that 
the  discipline  of  the  church  continued,  in  the  third  century, 
to  be  administered  by  the  church  as  it  had  been  from  the 
beginning.39 

Simonis,  profoundly  learned  on  all  points  relating  to  ec- 
clesiastical usage,  says  that,  "  this  church  discipline  was  so 
administered  that  not  only  the  clergy,  especially  the  bishops, 
and  in  important  cases  a  council  of  them,  but  also  the  church, 
in  every  case,  gave  their  decision  and  approbation,  in  order 
that  nothing  might  be  done  through  prejudice  and  private 
interest  by  being  submitted  to  the  clergy  and  bishops  alone."40« 

Baumgarten  ascribes  to  the  church  alone  the  entire  con- 
trol of  ecclesiastical  censures,  from  the  earliest  periods  of  its 
history  down  to  the  time  of  Cyprian,  when  he  supposes  each 
case  to  have  been  first  adjudicated  by  the  church,  and  after- 
wards by  the  clergy  and  bishop.^i 

Mosheim  is  full  and  explicit  upon  the  same  point.  He 
not  only  ascribes  to  the  church  the  power  of  enacting  their 
own  laws  and  choosing  their  own  officers,  but  of  excluding 
and  receiving  such  as  were  the  subjects  of  discipline,  malos 
et  degeneros  et  ezcludendi  et  recipiendi,  and  adds  that  nothing 
of  any  moment  was  transacted  or  decided  without  their 
knowledge  and  consent.^2 

Planck  asserts  that,  so  late  as  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, the  members  of  the  church  still  exercised  their  origi- 
nal right  of  controlling  the  proceedings  of  the  church,  both 
in  the  exclusion  of  offenders,  and  in  the  restitution  of  peni- 
tents.^3 

^  Antiqua  Disciplina,  Diss.  3.  c.  1. 

^t^  Vorlesungen  Uber  Christ.  Alterthum.  S.  426. 

■**  Erlauterungen,  Christ.  Alterthum.  §  122.  Comp,  also  §  36,  and 
S.85. 

*2  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  Prim.  §  45. 

43  Gesell.  Verfass.  1.  S.  180,  508.  Comp.  S.  129—140,  and 
Fuchs,  Bibliothek,  1.  S.  43  seq. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  107 

Guerike  also  states,  that,  in  the  third  century,  the  duty  of 
excluding  from  the  church  and  of  restoring  to  her  commu- 
nion, still  devolved  upon  the  laity .44 

The  views  of  Neander  are  sufficiently  apparent  from  quo- 
tations which  have  already  been  made  in  the  progress  of  this 
work.  More  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  writings  of  the 
fathers,  and  more  profoundly  skilled  in  the  government  and 
history  of  the  church  than  any  other  man  living,  he  not  only 
ascribes  the  discipline  of  offenders  originally  to  the  delibera- 
tion and  action  of  the  church,  but  states,  moreover,  that  the 
right  of  controlling  this  discipline  was  retained  by  the  laity 
in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  after  the  rise  of  the  Epis- 
copal power,  and  the  consequent  change  in  the  government 
of  the  church.  "  The  participation  of  the  laity  in  the  con- 
cerns of  the  church  was  not  yet  altogether  excluded.  One 
of  these  concerns  was  the  restoration  of  the  lapsed  to  the 
communion  of  the  church.  The  examination  which  was  in- 
stituted in  connection  with  this  restoration  was  also  held  be- 
fore the  whole  church. "45 

These  authorities  might  be  extended  almost  indefinitely  ; 
but  enough  have  been  cited  to  show  that,  in  the  opinion  of 
those  who  are  most  competent  to  decide,  the  sacred  right  of 
directing  the  discipline  of  the  church  was,  from  the  begin- 
ning, exercised  by  the  whole  body  of  believers  belonging  to 
the  community ;  and  that  they  continued,  in  the  third  centu- 
ry, to  exercise  the  same  prerogative. 

4.  Argument  from  the  fact,  that  the  entire  government  of 
the  church  was  under  the  control  of  its  members. 

Government  by  the  people,  characterized  the  whole  eccle- 
siastical polity  of  the  primitive  church.  The  members  of 
the  church,  unitedly,  enacted  their  own  laws,  elected  their 
own  officers,  established  their  own  judicature,  and  managed 

44  Kirch.  Gesch.  S.  94,  100,  101,  2d  edit. 

45  Allgem.  Kirch.  Gesch.  1.  S.  342,  2d  edit. 


108  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

all  their  affairs  by  their  mutual  suffrages.  "  With  them  resid- 
ed the  power  of  euacting  laws,  as  also  of  adopting  or  reject- 
ing whatever  might  be  proposed  in  the  general  assemblies, 
and  of  expelling  and  again  receiving  into  communion  any 
depraved  or  unworthy  members.  In  a  word,  nothing  what- 
ever, of  any  moment,  could  be  determined  on,  or  carried  into 
effect,  without  their  knowledge  and  concurrence.''^^ 

On  this  point,  again,  we  must  be  permitted  to  adduce  the 
authority  of  Neander.  After  showing  at  length,  that,  agree- 
ably to  the  spirit  of  the  primitive  church,  all  were  regarded 
as  different  organs  and  members  of  one  body,  and  actuated 
by  one  and  the  same  spirit,  he  adds  :  "  But  from  the  nature 
of  the  religious  life  and  of  the  Christian  church,  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  draw  the  inference  naturally  that  the  government 
should  have  been  entrusted  to  the  hands  of  a  single  individ- 
ual. The  monarchical  form  of  government  accords  not  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Christian  church."'^'^ 

Riddle  gives  the  following  sketch  of  the  constitution  and 
government  of  the  church  as  it  existed  at  the  close  of  the 
first  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  century.  "  The  sub- 
ordinate government,  etc.,  of  each  particular  church  was 
vested  in  itself;  that  is  to  say,  the  whole  body  elected  its 
minister  and  officers,  and  was  consulted  concerning  all  mat- 
ters of  importance."^ 

Even  the  "  judicious"  Hooker,  the  great  expounder  of  the 
ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  Episcopal  church,  distinctly  de- 
clares, that,  "the  general  consent  of  all"  is  requisite  for  the 
ratification  of  the  laws  of  the  church.  "  Laws  could  they 
never  be,  without  the  consent  of  the  whole  church  to  be  guid- 
ed by  them ;  whereunto  both  nature,  and  the  practice  of  the 
church  of  God  set  down  in  the  Scripture,  is  found  so  conso- 
nant, that  God  himself  would  not  impose  his  own  laws  upon 

46  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ ,  Saec.  1.  §  45. 

47  Allgem.  Gesch.  1.  S.  312.  2d  edit.         48  Chronology,  p.  13. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  109 

his  people  by  tlie  hands  of  Moses  without  their  free  and  open. 
consent."''^ 

From  all  this,  in  connection  with  what  has  already- 
been  said  in  the  former  part  of  this  work,  the  popular  ad- 
ministration of  the  government  is  sufficiently  manifest.  Even 
the  nnnute  concerns  of  the  church  were  submitted  to  the 
direction  of  the  popular  voice.  Is  a  delegate  to  be  sent  out? 
He  goes,  not  as  the  servant  of  the  bishop,  but  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  church,  chosen  to  this  service  by  public 
vote.^<^  Is  a  letter  missive  to  be  issued  from  one  church  to 
another  ?  It  is  done  in  the  name  of  the  church  ;  and,  when 
received,  is  publicly  read.^i  In  short,  nothing  is  done  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  church.  Even  Cyprian,  the  great  ad- 
vocate for  Episcopal  authority  in  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, protests  to  his  clergy,  that,  "  from  his  first  coming  to 
his  bishopric,  he  had  ever  resolved  to  do  nothing  according 
to  his  own  private  will,  without  the  advice  of  the  clergy  and 
the  approbation  of  the  people."52 

The  point  now  under  consideration  is  very  clearly  pre- 
sented by  an  old  English  writer,  of  Cambridge  in  England, 
whose  work  on  Primitive  Episcopacy  evinces  such  a  familiar 
acquaintance  with  the  early  history  of  the  church  as  entitles 
his  conclusions  to  great  respect.  "  In  the  apostles'  times, 
and  divers  ages  after,  all  the  people,  under  the  inspection  of 

*3  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  B.  VIU.         5"  Ignatius,  ad.  Phil.  c.  10. 

^*  The  letters  of  Clement  and  Polycarp  were  written  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  respective  churches.  Comp.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  4. 
c.  15.  5.  c.  1,  and  c  24.  With  the  epistle  of  Clement,  five  dele- 
gates were  sent  also  from  the  church  at  Rome,  to  that  at  Corinth,  to 
attempt  to  reconcile  tlie  dissensions  in  the  latter  church.     §  59. 

^^  Ad  id  vero  quod  scripserunt  raihi  compresbyteri  nostri,  Donatuar 
et  Fortunatus,  Novatus  et  Gordius,  solus  rescribcre  niliil  potui ;  quan- 
do  a  primordio  episcopatus  mei  statuerim  nihil  sine  consilio  vestro,  et 
sine  consensu  plebis  meae  privatim  sententia  gerere ;  scd  cum  ad  voa 
per  Dei  gratia m  venero,  tunc  de  eis  quae  vel  gesta  sunt,  vel  gerenda 
sicut  honor  mutuus  poscit  in  commune  tractabimus. —  Cyprian,  Ep.  5. 
Comp.  Ep.  3.  55.     DailU  on  the  Fathers,  p.  330.     London. 

10 


no  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

one  bishop,  were  wont  to  meet  together,  not  only  for  wor- 
ship, but  for  other  administrations.  All  public  acts  passed 
at  assemblies  of  the  whole  people.  They  were  consulted 
with,  their  concurrence  was  thought  necessary,  and  their 
presence  required,  that  nothing  might  pass  without  their  cog- 
nizance, satisfaction  and  consent.  This  was  observed,  not 
only  in  elections  of  officers,  but  in  ordinations  and  censures, 
in  admission  of  members  and  reconciling  penitents,  and  in 
debates  and  consultations  about  other  emergencies.  There 
is  such  evidence  of  this,  particularly  in  Cyprian,  almost  in 
every  one  of  his  epistles,  that  it  is  acknowledged  by  modern 
writers  of  all  sorts,  such  as  are  most  learned  and  best  ac- 
quainted with  antiquity. "53 

If  then  the  sanction  of  the  church  was  sought  in  the  mi- 
nutest matters,  surely  transactions  of  such  solemnity  as  those 
of  expelling  the  guilty,  and  of  restoring  the  penitent  must 
have  been  submitted  to  their  direction.  Was  a  christian  salu- 
tation to  a  sister  church  communicated  by  public  authority, 
commending,  it  may  be,  a  faithful  brother  to  communion 
and  fellowship,  and  had  they  no  voice  in  rejecting  a  fallen 
and  reprobate  member  from  their  own  communion?  Was 
the  sanction  of  the  whole  body  requisite  before  one  from 
another  church  could  be  received  to  their  communion,  and 
had  they  no  voice  in  restoring  the  penitent  who  returned  con- 
fessing his  sins  and  entreating  the  enjoyment  of  the  same 
privileges  1 

All  this  fully  accords  with  the  usage  of  the  apostolical 
churches,  and  is  evidently  a  continuation  of  tlie  same  policy. 
Whether  deacons  are  to  be  appointed,  or  an  apostle  or  pres- 
byters chosen,  it  is  done  by  vote  of  the  church.  A  case  for 
discipline  occurs;  it  is  submitted  to  the  church.  A  dissen- 
sion arises,  Acts  15;    this  also  is  referred  to  the  church. 

^  Clarkson's  Primitive  Episcopacy,  pp.  171,  172.  The  authority 
of  the  Magdeburg  Centuriators  is  also  ta  the  same  effect.  Comp.  XUhap. 
7.  Cent.  11.  and  III. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  HI 

The  decision  is  made  up  as  seemeth  good  to  the  whole  church. 
The  result  is  communicated  by  the  apostles,  the  elders,  and 
the  brethren  jointly.  The  brethren  of  the  church  have  a 
part  in  all  ecclesiastical  concerns ;  nothing  is  transacted 
without  their  approbation  and  consent.  The  sovereign  pow- 
er is  vested  in  the  people.  They  are  constituted  by  the 
apostles  themselves  the  guardians  of  the  church,  holding  in 
their  hands  the  keys  of  the  kingdom,  to  open  and  to  shut, 
to  bind  and  to  loose  at  their  discretion.  So  the  apostles  and 
primitive  fathers  evidently  understood  and  administered  the 
government  of  the  church.  Neither  Peter,  nor  any  apostle, 
nor  bishop,  nor  presbyter,  but  each  and  every  disciple  of 
Christ,  is  the  rock  on  which  he  would  build  his  church. 
Such  is  Origen's  interpretation  of  the  passage  in  Matt.  16: 
18.  "  Every  disciple  of  Christ  is  that  rock,  and  upon  all 
such  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  church,  and  of  its  correspon- 
ding polity  is  built.  If  you  suppose  it  to  be  built  upon  Peter 
alone,  what  say  you  of  John,  that  son  of  thunder ;  and  of 
each  of  the  apostles  ?  Will  you  presume  to  say,  that  the  gates 
of  hell  will  prevail  against  the  other  apostles,  and  against  all 
the  saints,  but  not  against  Peter  ?  Rather  is  not  this,  and 
that  other  declaration,  *  On  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,' 
applicable  to  each  and  every  one  alike  f'^ 

Such  are  the  arguments  which  we  offer  in  defence  of  the 
proposition,  that  any  body  of  believers,  associated  together 
for  the  enjoyment  of  religious  rights  and  privileges,  was  also 
originally  an  ecclesiastical  court,  for  the  trial  of  offences.55 
This  is  asserted  by  the  great  Du  Pin,  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic church.  It  is  admitted  by  respectable  authorities,  King, 
Cave,  Riddle,  etc.,  of  the  Episcopal  church.     It  is  generally 

6«  Comment,  in  Matt.  Tom.  3.  p.  524. 

*•''  it  was  a  doctrine  of  Tertullian,  that  where  three  are  assembled 
together  in  the  name  of  Christ,  there  they  constitute  a  church,  though 
only  belonging  to  the  laity.  Three  were  sufficient  for  this  purpose. 
Ubi  tres,  ecclesia  est,  licet  laici, — Exhort,  ad  Castitat.  c.  7.  522.  De 
Fuga,  c.  14. 


112  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

acknowledged  by  Protestants  of  other  religious  denomina- 
tions. It  is  implied  or  asserted  in  various  passages  from  the 
early  fathers.  They  speak  of  it,  not  as  a  controverted  point, 
but  as  an  admitted  principle.  The  sanction  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  primitive  church  was  sought  in  all  the  less  im- 
portant concerns  of  the  church.  They  controlled  also,  the 
highest  acts  of  ecclesiastical  censure,  and  frequently  exer- 
cised their  right  of  deposing  those  of  their  own  pastors  and 
bishops  who  proved  themselves  unworthy  of  the  sacred  office. 
And,  finally,  the  church  was  from  the  beginning  authorized 
and  instructed  by  the  apostle  Paul,  to  administer  discipline 
to  an  offending  member.  With  the  approbation  of  the  great 
apostle,  they  pronounced  upon  the  transgressor  the  sentence 
of  excommunication,  and  again,  on  receiving  satisfactory  ev- 
idence of  penitence,  restored  him  to  their  communion  and 
fellowship. 

With  the  question  of  expediency,  in  all  this,  we  have  now 
no  concern.  If  any  prefer  the  Episcopal  system  of  church 
government  to  one  more  free  and  popular,  we  shall  not  here 
dispute  their  right  to  submit  themselves  to  the  control  of  the 
diocesan.  But  when  they  go  on  to  assert  that  the  exercise 
of  such  authority  belongs  to  him  by  the  divine  right  of  Epis- 
copacy, we  rest  assured  that  they  have  begun  to  teach  for 
doctrine  the  commandments  of  men.  From  the  beginning 
it  was  not  so.  '^  Full  well  ye  reject  the  commandment  of 
God,  that  ye  may  keep  your  own  tradition." 


MODE  OF  ADMISSION. 

This  was  at  first  extremely  simple ;  consisting  only  in  the 
profession  of  faith  in  Christ,  and  baptism.  The  churches, 
however,  at  an  early  period,  learned  the  necessity  of  exercis- 
ing greater  caution  in  receiving  men  into  their  communion. 
Taught  by  their  own  bitter  experience,  they  began  to  require, 
in  the  candidate  for  admission  to  their  communion,  a  compe- 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES^  113 

tent  acquaintance  with  religious  truth,  and  a  trial  of  his 
character  for  a  considerable  space  of  time.  From  undue 
laxness,  they  passed  into  the  opposite  extreme  of  excessive 
rigor,  in  prescribing  rules  and  qualifications  for  communion. 
These  austerities  gave  rise  to  the  order  of  catechumens  to- 
ward the  close  of  the  second  century,  and  to  a  long  train  of 
formalities  preliminary  to  a  union  with  the  church. 

In  immediate  connection  with  these  rites,  and  as  a  part  of 
the  same  discipline,  began  the  system  of  penance  in  the 
treatment  of  the  lapsed — persons  who  had  incurred  the  cen- 
sure of  the  church.  By  this  system,  their  return  to  the  church 
was  rendered  even  more  difficult  than  had  been  their  origi- 
nal entrance.  The  system  was  rapidly  developed.  In  the 
course  of  the  third  century  it  was  brought  into  full  operation, 
whila  the  people  still  retained  much  influence  over  the  penal 
inflictions  of  the  church  upon  transgressors.^^  But  it  is  not 
our  purpose  to  treat  upon  this  subject.  The  system  is  de- 
tailed at  length  in  the  author's  Antiquities  of  the  Christian 
Church,  Chap.  XVII,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for  in- 
formation in  relation  to  the  offences  which  were  the  subject 
of  discipline,  the  penalties  inflicted,  and  the  manner  of  re- 
storing penitents. 

The  entire  regimen,  however,  passed,  in  process  of  time, 
from  the  hands  of  the  people  into  those  of  the  clergy,  espe- 
cially of  the  bishops.  It  was  lost  in  the  general  extinction 
of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  church,  and  the  overthrow 
of  its  primitive  apostolical  constitution  ;  upon  the  ruins  of 
which  was  reared  the  Episcopal  hierarchy,  first  in  the  form 
of  an  **  ambitious  oligarchy,"  as  Riddle  very  justly  denomi- 
nates it,  and  then,  of  a  tyrannical  despotism. 

II.  Usurpation  of  discipline  by  the  priesthood. 

In  the  fourth  century,  the  clergy  by  a  discipline  peculiar 

^  Planck,  Gesellschafis-Verfass.  1.  S.  I'^D— 140.     Fuchs,  Biblio- 
thek,  1.  S.  43,  44,  45—50,  403. 
10* 


114  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

to  themselves,  and  applicable  only  to  persons  belonging  to 
their  order,  found  means  of  relieving  themselves  from  the 
penalties  of  the  protracted  penance  which  was  exacted  of 
those  who  fell  under  the  censure  of  the  church.  Suspension 
and  the  lesser  excommunication  or  degradation,  and  the  like, 
were  substituted  as  the  penalties  of  the  clergy,  instead  of 
the  rigorous  penance  of  the  laity.  And  though  in  some  re- 
spects it  was  claimed,  that  the  discipline  of  the  clergy  was 
more  severe  than  that  of  the  laity,  the  practical  effect  of  this 
discrimination,  which  was  gradually  introduced,  was  to  sep- 
arate the  clergy  from  the  laity,  and  to  bring  the  latter  more 
completely  under  the  power  of  the  priesthood. ^^  It  was  at 
once  the  occasion  of  intolerance  in  the  one,  and  of  oppres- 
sion to  the  other. 

The  confederation  of  the  churches  in  synods  and  coun- 
cils had  also  much  influence  in  producing  the  same  result. 
In  these  conventions,  laws  and  regulations  were  enacted  for 
the  government  and  discipline  of  the  churches  of  the  pro- 
vince. And  though  the  churches,  severally,  still  retained 
the  right  of  regulating  their  own  polity,  as  circumstances 
might  require,  they  seldom  claimed  the  exercise  of  their 
prerogative.  The  result  was,  that  the  law-making  power 
was  transferred,  in  a  great  degree,  from  the  people  to  the  pro- 
vincial synods,  where  again  the  authority  of  the  people  was 
lost  in  the  overpowering  influence  of  bishops  and  clergy. 
These  claitned  at  first  only  to  act  as  the  representatives  of 
their  respective  churches,  by  authority  delegated  to  them  by 
their  constituents.^^     But  they  soon  assumed  a  loftier  tone. 

"  Planck,  Gesellschafts-Verfass.  1.  S.  342— 346.  Comp.  c.  8.  S. 
125-141. 

*8  Tertullian  describes  such  assemblies  as  bodies  reprcsenlatne  of 
the  whole  Christian  church.  Ipsa  ropraesentatio  totius  nominis 
Christiani. —  De  Jejiin.  c.  13.  p.  5T)2. 

In  the  infancy,  indeed,  of  councils,  the  bishops  did  not  scruple  to 
acknowledge  that  they  appeared  there  merely  as  the  ministers  or  le- 
gates of  their  respective  churches,  and  tliat  they  were,  in  fact,  no- 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  115 

Claiming  for  themselves  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
they  professed  to  speak  and  act  according  to  the  teachings  of 
this  divine  agent.  Their  decisions,  therefore,  instead  of  be- 
ing the  judgment  of  ignorant  and  erring  men,  were  the  dic- 
tates of  unerring  wisdom.  And  the  people,  in  exchange  for 
the  government  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  exercise 
for  themselves,  were  kindly  provided  with  an  administration 
which  claimed  to  be  directed  by  wisdom  from  above. ^9 
Taught  thus  and  disciplined  in  that  great  lesson  of  bigotry 
and  spiritual  despotism, — passive  suhmission  to  persons  or- 
dained of  God  for  the  good  of  the  church, — they  were  pre- 
pared to  resign  their  original  rights  and  privileges  into  the 
hands  of  the  hierarchy. 

There  is  the  fullest  evidence  that  the  action  of  the  laity 
was  requisite,  as  lat«  as  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  in 
all  disciplinary  proceedings  of  the  church.  By  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fourth,  however,  this  cardinal  right,  through  the 
operation  of  causes,  which  have  been  briefly  mentioned  and 
which  may  be  more  fully  specified  hereafter,  was  greatly 
abridged  ;  and  soon  after,  it  was  wholly  lost.  This  fact  strong- 
ly illustrates  the  progress  of  the  Episcopal  hierarchy.  While 
the  right  of  the  laity  was  yet  undisputed,  the  power  of  the 
bishop  began  at  first  to  be  partially  asserted,  and  occasion- 
ally admitted ;  the  people  occupying  a  neutral  position  be- 
tween submission  and  open  hostility.  But,  from  disuse  to 
denial,  and  from  denial  to  the  extinction  of  neglected  privi- 

thing  more  than  representatives  acting  from  instructions ;  but  it  was 
not  long  before  this  Jiumble  language  began,  by  little  and  little,  to  be 
exchanged  for  a  loftier  tone.  They  at  length  took  upon  themselves 
to  assert  that  they  were  the  legitimate  successors  of  the  apostles 
themselves,  and  might,  consequently,  of  their  own  proper  authority, 
dictate  laws  to  the  christian  flock.  To  what  extent  the  inconveni- 
ences and  evils  arising  out  of  these  preposterous  pretensions  reached 
in  after  times,  is  too  well  known  to  require  any  particular  notice  in 
this  place  — Mosheini^  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  II.  §  23. 
59  Planck,  Gesellschafts-Verfass.  l.S.  448-452. 


116  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

leges  and  powers,  the  descent  is  natural,  short  and  rapid. 
From  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  accordingly, 
the  bishops  assumed  the  control  of  the  whole  penal  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  laity,  opening  and  shutting  at  pleasure  the  doors 
of  the  church,  inflicting  sentence  of  excommunication,  and 
prescribing,  at  their  discretion,  the  austerities  of  penance ; 
and  again  absolving  the  penitents,  and  restoring  them  to  the 
church  by  their  own  arbitrary  power.^^  The  people,  ac- 
cordingly, no  longer  having  any  part  in  the  trial  of  offences, 
ceased  to  watch  for  the  purity  of  the  church,  connived  at 
offences,  and  concealed  the  offender ,  not  caring  to  interfere 
with  the  prerogatives  of  the  bishop,  in  which  they  had  no 
further  interest.  The  speedy  and  sad  corruption  of  the 
church  was  but  the  natural  consequence  of  this  loose  and 
arbitrary  discipline.  It  was  one  efficient  cause  of  that  de- 
generacy which  succeeded. 

The  ecclesiastical  discipline,  if  such  indeed  it  can  be  call- 
ed, now  appears  in  total  contrast  with  that  of  the  church 
under  the  apostles.  Then,  the  supreme  authority  was  vest- 
ed in  the  people;  now,  it  is  with  the  clergy.  The  church 
then  enacted  her  own  laws,  and  administered  her  discipline ; 
the  pastor,  as  the  executive  officer,  acting  in  accordance  with 
her  will  for  the  promotion  of  her  purity  and  of  her  general 
prosperity.  The  clergy  are  now  the  supreme  rulers  of  the 
church,  from  whom  all  laws  emanate ;  and  are  also  the  execu- 
tioners of  their  own  arbitrary  enactments.  The  church  is  no 
longer  a  free  and  independent  republic,  extending  to  its  constit- 
uents the  rights  and  privileges  of  religious  liberty ;  but  a  spir- 
itual monarchy  under  the  power  of  an  ambitious  hierarchy 
whose  will  is  law,  and  whose  mandates  the  people  are  taught 
to  receive,  as  meting  out  to  them,  with  wisdom  from  on  high, 
the  mercy  and  the  justice,  the  goodness  and  severity  of  their 
righteous  Lawgiver  and  Judge.     The  people  are  wholly  dis- 

«°  Planck,  Gesellichaas-Verfass.  1.  509. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  117 

franchisee!  by  the  priesthood,  who  have  assumed  the  preroga- 
tives of  that  prophetic  Antichrist,  who  "  as  God  sitteth  in  the 
temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God." 


REMARKS. 

1.  It  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of  the  members  of  every 
church,  themselves  to  administer  the  discipline  of  their  own 
body. 

Each  church  is  a  voluntary  association,  formed  for  the 
mutual  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  and  ordinances  of  reli- 
gion. To  its  members  belongs  the  right  to  prescribe  the 
conditions  of  a  connection  with  their  communion,  or  of  ex- 
clusion from  it,  as  may  seem  good  to  them,  in  conformity 
with  the  principles  of  the  gospel.  The  right  is  vested  in 
them  collectively ;  and  no  man,  or  body  of  men,  can  lawful- 
ly usurp  authority  over  them,  or  embarrass  them  in  the  free 
exercise  of  this  right.  Any  such  interference  is  an  unjust  in- 
fringement of  their  religious  liberty. 

The  duty  of  carefully  exercising  a  Christian  watch  and 
fellowship,  one  toward  another,  and  of  excluding  those  who 
walk  unworthily,  is  most  clearly  enforced  in  the  Scriptures ; 
and  however  it  may  be  disregarded  in  particular  instances, 
it  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  one  important  means  of 
preserving  the  purity  of  the  church,  and  of  promoting  the  in- 
terests of  religion. 

2.  Ecclesiastical  censure  is  not  a  penal  infliction,  but  a 
moral  discipline  for  the  reformation  of  the  offender  and  the 
honor  of  religion. 

This  thought  has  been  already  presented,  but  it  should  be 
borne  distinctly  in  mind.  Church  discipline  seeks,  in  the 
kindness  of  Christian  love,  to  recover  a  fallen  brother,  to  aid 
him  in  his  spiritual  conflicts,  and  to  save  him  from  hopeless 
ruin.     In  its  simplicity  and  moral  efficacy,  if  not  in  principle, 


118 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


the  discipline  of  the  apostolical  and  primitive  churches  dif- 
fered totally  from  that  complicated  system  of  penance  into 
which  it  degenerated  under  the  hierarchy.  The  austerities 
of  this  system,  with  its  pains  and  privations,  have  more  the 
appearance  of  penal  inflictions  to  deter  others  from  sin,  than 
of  Christian  efforts  to  reclaim  the  guilty ;  and  the  system 
itself  was  often,  in  the  hands  of  the  priesthood,  an  engine  of 
torture,  with  which  to  molest  an  adversary  or  to  gratify  pri- 
vate resentment.  But  the  Christian  love  that  administers  ec- 
clesiastical censure,  in  the  spirit  of  the  apostolical  rule,  su- 
perior to  all  sinister  motives,  seeks  only  the  reformation  of 
the  offender,  and  the  honor  of  that  sacred  cause  upon  which 
he  has  brought  reproach.61 

3.  This  mode  of  discipline  is  the  best  safeguard  against 
the  introduction  of  bad  men  into  the  church. 

The  members  of  the  church  who  are  associated  with  the 
candidate  in  the  relations  and  pursuits  of  private  life,  best 
know  his  character.  They  form  the  most  unbiased  judg- 
ment of  his  qualifications;  and  have  less  to  pervert  their 
decisions  than  any  other  men.  Commit,  therefore,  the  high 
trust  of  receiving  men  into  the  sacred  relations  of  the  church 
of  Christ,  neither  to  bishop,  nor  presbyter,  nor  pastor,  but 
to  the  united,  unbiased  decision  of  the  members  of  that  com- 
munion. 

4.  Discipline  administered  by  the  brethren  of  the  church, 
is  the  best  means  of  securing  the  kind  and  candid  trial  of 
those  who  may  be  the  subjects  of  ecclesiastical  censure. 

Cases  of  this  kind  are  often  involved  in  great  difficulty, 
and  always  require  to  be  treated  with  peculiar  delicacy  and 
impartiality.  These  ends  of  impartial  justice  the  wisdom 
of  the  world  seeks  to  secure  by  the  verdict  of  a  jury.  The 
brethren  of  the  church,  in  like  manner,  are  the  safest  tribu- 
nal for  the  impeachment  of  those  who  walk  unworthily. 
Commit  to  any  other  hands  this  high  trust,  and  it  is  in  danger 

"   Venema,  Institutioncs  Hist.  Eccles.  III.  §  188.  p.  214  seq. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  119 

either  of  being  totally  neglected,  or  else  perverted  in  its  ex- 
ercise by  some  private  bias,  or  partizan  spirit, 

5.  The  mode  of  discipline  now  under  consideration,  re- 
lieves the  pastor  from  unwelcome  responsibilities,  both  in  the 
admission  of  members  and  in  the  treatment  of  offences. 

He  has  a  delicate  and  responsible  duty  to  perform  towards 
those  who  present  themselves  for  admission  to  the  church. 
He  is  not  satisfied,  it  may  be,. with  regard  to  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  candidate,  and  yet  this  is  only  an  impression  re- 
ceived from  a  great  variety  of  considerations  which  cannot 
well  be  expressed.  But  to  refuse  the  applicant,  without  as- 
signing good  and  sufficient  reasons,  may  expose  him  to  the 
charge  of  uncharitableness,  and  involve  him  in  great  difficul- 
ty. Under  this  circumstance,  no  railing  accusation  can  be 
brought  against  him,  provided  the  case  is  submitted  to  the 
impartial  decision  of  the  church. 

And  again,  in  the  treatment  of  oflfences,  the  pastor  should 
always  be  able  to  take  shelter  under  the  authority  of  the 
church.  Like  Paul,  in  the  case  of  the  Corinthians,  he  may 
be  obliged  to  rebuke  them  for  their  neglect,  and  to  urge  them 
to  their  duty.  But  he  should  never  appear  as  the  accuser 
and  prosecutor  of  any  of  his  people.  The  trial  should  be- 
gin and  end  with  the  church,  who  ought  always  to  be  ready 
to  relieve  their  pastor  from  duties  so  difficult  and  delicate, 
which  belong  not  to  his  sacred  office. 

6.  Discipline  so  administered  serves  to  promote  the  peace 
of  the  church. 

An  unruly  member  of  the  church  often  has  the  address  to 
enlist  a  violent  party  in  his  behalf.  In  every  communion 
may  be  found  a  certain  number  of  hasty,  restless  spirits,  who 
are  ever  ready  to  rally  at  the  cry  of  bigotry,  intolerance,  per- 
secution, however  unjustly  raised.  The  contention  may  rise 
high  and  rend  the  whole  church  asunder,  if  the  minister 
alone  becomes,  in  their  fiery  zeal,  the  object  of  attack.  The 
only  safe  appeal  is  to  the  calm,  deliberate  decision  of  the 


120  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

whole  body  of  the  church.  Here  the  case  is  open  for  a  full 
discussion  and  a  fair  decision,  which,  more  than  anything 
else,  has  power  to  silence  the  rage  of  faction,  and  to  calm 
the  tumults  of  party.  It  is  in  vain  to  contend  against  the 
sovereign  power  of  the  majority.  The  charge  of  acting  from 
personal  prejudice  and  private  animosity  lies  not  against  them, 
as  against  a  single  individual.  Thus  a  church  may  gather 
about  their  pastor  for  the  defence  of  his  character,  for  his 
encouragement  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duty,  and  for 
the  preservation  of  their  own  peace,  by  silencing  the  clamors 
of  any  restless  malcontents. 

7.  The  only  mode  that  has  ever  been  devised  for  preserv- 
ing the  discipline  of  the  church  is  to  submit  it  to  the  control, 
not  of  the  clergy,  but  of  the  members  themselves. 

In  consequence  of  depriving  the  members  of  the  church 
of  a  participation  in  its  discipline,  soon  after  the  rise  of  Epis- 
copacy, they  became  remiss  in  their  attention  to  the  scan- 
dals of  their  brethren,  and  withdrew  their  watch  over  each 
other.62  And  since  that  day,  when  was  it  ever  known 
that  any  just  discipline  was  maintained  in  any  church  under 
a  national  establishment  and  an  independent  priesthood? 
What  is  the  discipline  of  the  Episcopal  church  even  in  this 
country,  where,  without  a  state  religion,  or  an  independent 
priesthood,  the  laity  have  little  or  no  concern  with  the  ad- 
mission of  members  to  their  communion,  or  the  exclusion  of 
them  from  it?  Let  the  reader  weigh  well  this  consideration. 
It  suggests  one  of  our  strongest  and  most  important  objec- 
tions to  the  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  Episcopal  church.63 

62  Planck,  Gesell.  Verf^iss.  1.  S.  509  seq. 

'^^  Some  of  the  clergy  of  that  comaiunion,  we  understand,  are  ac- 
customed to  keep  a  private  list  of  those  who  are  v/ont  to  receive  the 
sacred  elements  at  their  hand^,  and  if  any  are  found  to  walk  unworth- 
ily, their  names  are  silently  stricken  off  from  the  roll,  and  their  com- 
munion with  the  church  is  dropped  in  this  informal  manner.  Such 
pastoral  fidelity,  duly  exercised,  is  worthy  of  all  consideration.  But 
can  it  he  expected,  as  a  general  rule,  to  accomplish  the  high  ends  of 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  121 

Why  do  the  malcontents  of  other  denominations,  men  of 
equivocal  character  if  not  of  tarnished  reputation,  take  re- 
fuge in  such  numbers  in  that  church?  We  wish  to  bring  no 
unjust  accusation  against  that  denomination,  but  it  seems  to 
be  admitted,  by  members  of  their  own  communion,  that  there 
is  no  discipline  in  the  Episcopal  church.  "  Every  church 
warden  in  every  parish  in  England  is  called  upon  once  a 
year  to  attend  the  visitation  of  his  archdeacon.  At  this  time 
oaths  are  tendered  to  him  respecting  his  different  duties;  and 
among  other  things  he  swears,  that  he  will  present  to  the 
archdeacon  the  names  of  all  such  inhabitants  of  his  parish 
as  are  leading  notoriously  immoral  lives.  This  oath  is  regu- 
larly taken  once  a  year  by  every  church  warden  in  every 
parish  in  England;  yet  I  believe  that  such  a  thing  as  any 
single  presentation  for  notoriously  immoral  conduct  has 
scarcely  been  heard  of  for  a  century."64  Another  of  the 
Tractarians  complains  in  the  following  terms  of  this  total 
neglect  of  discipline  in  the  Episcopal  church.  "  I  think  the 
church  has,  in  a  measure,  forgotten  its  own  principles,  as  de- 
clared in  the  sixteenth  century ;  nay,  under  stranger  circum- 
stances, as  far  as  I  know,  than  have  attended  any  of  the  er- 
rors and  corruptions  of  the  Papists.  Grievous  as  are  their 
declensions  from  primitive  usage,  I  never  heard,  in  any  case, 
of  their  practice  directly  contradicting  their  services;  where- 
as, we  go  on  lamenting,  once  a  year,  the  absence  of  disci- 
pline in  our  church,  yet  do  not  even  dream  of  taking  any  one 
step  towards  its  restoration."^^ 

A  well  known  clergyman  of  our  own  country,  in  assigning 
his  "  Reasons  for  preferring  Episcopacy,"  speaks  of  it  as 
"  universally  felt  and  admitted"  that  **  in  no  Christian  de- 
faithful  Christian  discipline?  Is  it  the  discipline  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment ?  Or  can  it  be  expected  of  any  class  of  men,  that  they  will 
have  the  independence  to  be  faithful  here?  A  magnanimity  how 
rare ! 

64  Tracts  for  the  Times,  No.  59.  p.  416.  «*  Ibid.  No.  41.  p.  297. 

11 


122  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

nomination  of  the  country  is  there  so  great  a  diversity  of 
opinion  [as  in  the  Episcopal  church]  about  doctrines,  church 
polity,  etc.  But  we  hear,"  he  adds,  "  of  no  discipline  on  ac- 
count of  this  diversity.  The  probability  is,  that  discipline  on 
these  accounts  would  rend  and  break  up  the  church."  And 
again  he  says  :  "  There  is  no  church  in  the  world,  that  has  in 
fact  so  great  a  diversity  of  opinion  in  her  own  bosom,  as  the 
Church  of  England,  and  not  a  little  of  downright  infidelity. 
And  yet  no  one  can  reasonably  doubt,  that  if  she  continue 
to  let  discipline  for  opinion  alone,  etc that  most  im- 
portant branch  of  Protestantism  will  ere  long  be  redeemed 
from  her  past  and  present  disadvantages,  and  recover  the 
primitive  vitality  of  Christianity,  so  as  to  have  it  pervading 
and  animating  her  whole  communion.  Nor  is  it  less  certain, 
that  by  attempting  discipline  for  opinion,  she  would  forever 
blight  all  these  prospects."66 

In  the  Lutheran  church  in  Germany,  christian  discipline 
has  fallen  into  equal  neglect.  So  totally  is  it  disregarded  that 
according  to  the  declaration  of  a  devout  minister  of  that 
church,67  persons  of  abandoned  character,  known  to  be  such, 
and  the  most  notorious  slaves  of  lust  are  publicly  and  indis- 
criminately received  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
"What  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  or  national  establishment  was 
ever  known  to  maintain,  for  any  long  period,  the  purity  of 
the  church  ? 

8.  This  mode  of  discipline  gives  spiritual  life  and  power 
to  the  church. 

The  moral  efficiency  of  any  body  of  believers  depends, 
not  upon  their  number,  but  upon  the  purity  of  their  lives, 
and  their  fidelity  in  duty.  A  church  composed  of  men  who 
are  a  living  exemplification  of  the  power  of  the  Christian 
religion  by  their  holy  lives,  and  by  the  faithful  discharge  of  their 

^  Thoughts  on  the  Religious  State  of  the  Country;  with  Reasons 
for  preferring  Episcopacy.     By  Rev.  Calvin  CoitOB,  pp.  1^,  200. 
«'  Liebetrut,  Tag  des  Herm,  S.  331. 


DISCIPLINE  BY  THE  CHURCHES.  123 

duties, — such  a  church,  and  such  only,  is  what  the  Lord  Je- 
sus designed  his  church  should  be, — the  pillar  and  ground  of 
the  truth.  Now  this  being  conceded,  under  what  form  of 
discipline  do  we  find  the  purest  church?  Where  do  we 
discover  the  greatest  circumspection  in  the  admission  of 
members  ?  Where,  the  strictest  watch  and  fellowship,  the 
kindest  efforts  to  recover  the  fallen,  and  the  most  faithful  en- 
deavors to  defend  the  honor  of  the  Christian  name,  and  to 
promote  pure  and  undefiled  religion?  Without  intending 
any  invidious  reflection,  may  we  not  request  of  the  reader  a 
careful  consideration  of  this  subject  ?  Let  him  remember, 
also,  what  his  own  observation  may  have  taught  him,  that  a 
single  case  of  discipline,  rightly  conducted,  gives  renewed 
energy  to  the  whole  body,  quickening  every  member  into 
newness  of  life  in  the  service  of  the  Lord.  Let  him  estimate, 
if  he  can,  the  moral  efficacy  of  a  living  church,  quickened 
into  healthful,  holy  action,  compared  with  one  which  has  a 
name  to  live  and  is  dead.  Let  him  ponder  well  these  con- 
siderations, before  he  decides  to  go  over  to  a  communion  that 
tolerates  a  general  neglect  of  the  Christian  duty  which  we 
have  been  contemplating. 


.^'^. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

EQUALITY  AND  IDENTITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND 
PRESBYTERS. 

Soon  after  the  ascension  of  our  Lord,  it  became  expedient 
for  the  brethren  to  appoint  a  certain  class  of  officers  to  su- 
perintend the  secular  concerns  of  their  fraternity.  These 
were  denominated  didxovoi,  servants,  ministers,  deacons.  In 
process  of  time,  another  order  of  men  arose  among  them, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  superintend  the  religious  interests  of  the 
church.  These  were  denominated  ot  nQoiGrd^tvoi,  Rom. 
12:  8.  1  Thess.  5:  12;  oi  ^yovii^voi,  Heb.  13:  7,  17,  24; 
TTQsa^vTeQOi,  Acts  20:  17  ;  imaxoTioi,  Acts  20:  28,  equivalent 
to  the  terms,  presidents,  leaders,  elders,  overseers.  These 
terms  all  indicate  one  and  the  same  office,  that  of  a  presid- 
ing officer  in  their  religious  assemblies.  Officers  of  this  class 
are  usually  designated,  by  the  apostles  and  the  earliest  ecclesi- 
astical writers,  as  presbyters  and  bishops, — names  which  are 
used  interchangeably  and  indiscriminately  to  denote  one  and 
the  same  office. 

The  appropriate  duty  of  the  bishop  or  presbyter  at  first 
was,  not  to  teach  or  to  preach,  but  to  preside  over  the  church, 
and  to  preserve  order  in  their  assemblies.  "  They  were  orig- 
inally chosen  as  in  the  synagogue,  not  so  much  for  the  in- 
struction and  edification  of  the  church,  as  for  taking  the  lead 
in  its  general  government.''^     The  necessity  of  such  a  pre- 

^  Neander's  Apost.  Kirch.  I.  p.  44  seq.  Comp.  Siegel,  Handbuch, 
IV.  S.  223.  Ziegler,  Versuch,  der  kirchlichea  Verfassungsformen, 
S.  3—12.  Rothe,  Anftinge,  I.  S.  153.  So,  also,  Gieseler,  Rhein- 
wald,  Bohmer,  Winer,  etc. 


EQUALITY  OP  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  125 

siding  officer  in  the  church  at  Corinth  is  sufficiently  apparent 
from  the  apostle's  rebuke  of  their  irregularities.  "  How  is 
it,  then,  brethren  1  When  ye  come  together,  every  one  of  you 
hath  a  psalm,  hath  a  doctrine,  hath  a  revelation,  hath  an  in- 
terpretation. Let  all  things  be  done  unto  edifying."  1  Cor. 
14;  26.  The  apostle,  however,  allows  all  to  prophesy,  to  ex- 
ercise their  spiritual  gifts  j  and  only  requires  them  to  speak 
**  one  by  one,"  that  all  things  may  be  done  decently  and  in 
order.  The  ordinary  officers  of  the  apostolical  church,  then, 
comprised  two  distinct  classes  or  orders.  The  one  was 
known  by  the  name  of  deacons ;  the  other,  designated  by  va- 
rious titles,  of  which  those  most  frequently  used  are  preshy- 
ters  and  bishops. 

Our  proposition  is,  that  Bishops  and  Presbyters,  accord- 
ing to  the  usage  of  the  apostles  and  of  the  earliest  ecclesias- 
tical writers,  are  identical  and  convertible  terms,  denoting 
officers  of  one  and  the  same  class.  In  this  proposition  we 
join  issue  with  the  Episcopalians,  who  assert  that  bishops 
were  divinely  appointed  as  an  order  of  men  superior  to  pres- 
byters. We,  on  the  other  hand,  affirm  that  presbyters  were 
the  highest  grade  of  officers  known  in  the  apostolical  and 
primitive  churches ;  and  that  the  title  of  bishop  was  original- 
ly only  another  name  for  precisely  the  same  officer.  Even  af- 
ter a  distinction  began  to  be  made  between  presbyters  and 
bishops,  we  affirm  that  the  latter  were  not  a  peculiar  order 
distinct  from  presbyters  and  superior  to  them.  The  bishop 
was  merely  one  of  the  presbyters  appointed,  like  the  modera- 
tor, to  preside  over  the  coHege  of  his  fellow-presbyters,  but 
belonging  still  to  the  same  body,  performing  only  the  same 
pastoral  duties,  and  exercising  only  the  same  spiritual  func- 
tions. Like  the  moderator  of  a  modern  presbytery  or  asso- 
ciation, he  still  retained  a  ministerial  parity  with  his  brethren, 
in  the  duties,  rights  and  privileges  of  the  sacred  office.  Our 
sources  of  argument  in  defence  of  this  general  proposition 
are  two-fold, — Scripture  and  History. 
11* 


126  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

I.  The  scriptural  argument  for  the  equality  and  identity 
of  bishops  and  presbyters.  This  may  be  comprised  under 
the  following  heads : 

1.  The  appellations  and  titles  of  a  presbyter  are  used 
indiscriminately  and  interchangeably  with  those  of  a  bishop. 

2.  A  presbyter  is  required  to  possess  the  same  qualifica- 
tions as  a  bishop. 

3.  The  official  duties  of  a  presbyter  are  the  same  as  those 
of  a  bishop. 

4.  There  was,  in  the  apostolical  churches,  no  ordinary 
and  permanent  class  of  ministers  superior  to  that  of  pres- 
byters. 

1.  The  appellations  and  titles  of  a  presbyter  are  used  in- 
terchangeably with  those  of  a  bishop. 

One  of  the  most  unequivocal  proof-texts  in  the  Scriptures 
is  found  in  Acts  20:  17,  compared  with  verse  28.  Paul,  on 
his  journey  to  Jerusalem,  sent  from  Miletus  and  called  the 
presbyters,  TZQEo^vzjQovg,  elders,  of  Ephesus.  And  to  these 
same  presbyters,  when  they  had  come,  he  says,  in  his  affec- 
tionate counsel  to  them,"  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  to 
all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  bish- 
ops, Ima-Aonovg,  to  feed  the  church  of  God  which  he  hath 
purchased  with  his  own  blood."  Both  terms  are  here  used 
in  the  same  sentence  with  reference  to  the  same  men. 

We  have  another  instance,  equally  clear,  of  the  indiscrimi- 
nate use  of  the  terms,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Paul's  epistle 
to  Titus.  "  For  this  cause  I  Jeft  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou 
shouldst  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain 
presbyters,  7TQ8g^vt8qovs,  in  every  city,  as  I  had  appointed 
thee."  Then  follows  an  enumeration  of  the  qualifications 
which  are  requisite  in  these  presbyters,  one  of  which  is  given 
in  these  words ;  "A  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as  the  Stew- 
ard of  God." 

Again,  it  is  worthy  of  particular  attention,  that  the  apos- 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  127 

tie,  in  his  instructions  to  Timothy,  1  Tim.  3:  1 — 7,  respect- 
ing the  qualifications  of  a  bishop,  proceeds  immediately  to 
specify  those  of  deacons,  the  second  class  of  officers  in  the 
church,  without  making  the  least  allusion  to  presbyters, 
though  confessedly  giving  instructions  for  the  appointment 
of  the  appropriate  officers  of  the  church.  This  omission 
was  not  a  mere  oversight  in  the  writer  ;  for  he  subsequently 
alludes  to  the  presbytery,  4:  14,  and  commends  those  that 
rule  well,  5:  17.  In  these  passages  the  apostle  evidently  has 
in  mind  the  same  offices,  and  uses  the  terms  bishop  and  pres- 
byter, as  identical  in  meaning. 

To  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus  which  are  at  Philippi,  the 
apostle  addresses  his  salutation,  —  to  the  saints,  with  the 
bishops  and  deacons,  that  is,  to  the  church  and  the  officers  of 
the  church.  Here,  again,  as  in  all  the  New  Testament, 
these  officers  were  distributed  into  two  classes.  For,  had 
there  been  at  Philippi  a  third  order  of  ministers,  superi- 
or to  the  deacons,  it  is  incredible  that  the  apostle  could 
have  omitted  all  allusion  to  them,  in  a  salutation  so  specific. 
In  truth,  we  must  either  charge  him  with  neglecting  an 
important  and  superior  class  of  officers  in  the  church  at 
Philippi,  a  neglect  totally  inconsistent  with  his  character,  or 
we  must  admit  that  the  presbyters  are  addressed  in  the  salu- 
tation of  the  bishops  as  being  one  and  the  same  with  them. 

The  supposition,  again,  that  these  were  bishops  of  the 
Episcopal  order,  involves  the  absurdity  of  a  plurality  of  bish- 
ops over  the  same  church;  a  supposition  at  variance  with  the 
first  principles  of  Diocesan  Episcopacy,  which  admits  of  but 
one  in  a  city .2     This  difficulty  appears  to  have  forcibly  im- 

2  "  Epiphanius  tells  us,  that  Peter  and  Paul  were  both  bishops  of 
Rome  at  once  :  by  which  it  is  plain  he  took  the  title  of  bishop  in  an- 
other sense  than  now  it  is  used  ;  for  now,  and  so  for  a  long  time  up- 
ward, two  bishops  can  no  more  possess  one  see,  than  two  hedge-spar- 
rows dwell  in  one  bush.  St.  Peter's  time  was  a  little  too  early  for 
bishops  to  rise." — Hales'  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  110. 


12S  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

pressed  the  mind  of  Chrysostom.  "  How  is  this?"  exclaims 
the  eloquent  patriarch.  "  Were  there  many  bishops  in  the 
same  city  ?  By  no  means ;  but  he  calls  the  presbyters  by  this 
name  [bishops] ;  for  at  that  time  this  was  the  common  ap- 
pellation of  both."3 

Finally,  we  appeal  to  1  Pet.  5:  2,  3,  where  the  apostle,  as 
a  fellow-presbyter,  exhorts  the  presbyters  to  feed  the  flock  of 
God,  taking  the  oversight  of  them ,  iTnaxoTTOvvtegf  acting  the 
bishopf  performing  the  duties  of  a  bishop  over  them,  requiring 
of  them  the  same  duties  which  the  apostle  Paul  enjoins  upon 
the  presbyter-bishops  of  Ephesus.  As  at  Ephesus,  where  Paul 
gave  his  charge  to  those  presbyters,  so  here,  again,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  there  could  have  been  no  bishop  over  those  whom 
Peter  commits  to  the  oversight  of  these  presbyters.  But 
who  are  the  flock  in  this  instance  ?  Plainly,  any  body  of 
those  Christians  scattered  throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cap- 
padocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia,  to  whom  he  addresses  his  epis- 
tle. These  Christians,  throughout  this  vast  extent  of  coun- 
try, are  committed  to  the  care  of  their  presbyters^  who  are 
severally  to  act  as  the  pastors  and  bishops  of  their  respective 
charges. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  appellations  and  titles  of  a  pres- 
byter are  used  indiscriminately  and  interchangeably  with 
those  of  a  bishop.  In  the  same  sentence  even,  and  general- 
ly throughout  the  writings  of  the  apostles,  these  are  perfect- 
ly convertible  terms,  as  different  names  of  the  same  thing. 
This  fact  is  very  forcibly  exhibited  in  the  following  summary 
from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mason.  "  That  the  terms  bishop  and  pres- 
byter, in  their  application  to  the  first  class  of  officers,  are 
perfectly  convertible,  the  one  pointing  out  the  very  same 
class  of  rulers  with  the   other,   is   as   evident   as   the   sun 

^  JTiV  imoxoTTOis  xal  Scaxovotg.  Tl  tovto  ;  mag  itoXsojg  itoXhii 
iniGTionoi  ^aav  ;  OvSafiiiig,  akXXd  tovg  TTQsa^vrlqovg  ovrojg  ixdXtae' 
tors  yd^  rdojg  ixoivoivow  roXg  ovoftaai. — In  Phil.  1:  1.  p.  199  seq. 
Tom.  11. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  129 

*  shining  in  his  strength.'  Timothy  was  instructed  by  the 
apostle  Paul  in  the  qualities  which  were  to  be  required  in 
those  who  desired  the  office  of  a  bishop.*  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas ordained  presbyters  in  every  churchf  which  they  had 
founded.  Titus  is  directed  to  ordain  in  every  city  presby- 
ters who  are  to  be  blamelesa,  the  husband  of  one  wife.  And 
the  reason  of  so  strict  a  scrutiny  into  character  is  thus  render- 
ed,yar  a  bishop  must  he  blameless.^  If  this  does  not  identify 
the  bishop  with  the  presbyter,  in  the  name  of  common  sense, 
what  can  do  it?  Suppose  a  law,  pointing  out  the  qualifica- 
tions of  a  sheriff,  were  to  say,  a  sheriff"  must  be  a  man  of  pure 
character,  of  great  activity,  and  resolute  spirit;  for  it  is 
highly  necessary  that  a  governor  be  of  unspotted  reputation, 
etc.,  the  bench  and  bar  would  be  rather  puzzled  for  a  con- 
struction, and  would  be  compelled  to  conclude,  either  that 
something  had  been  left  out  in  transcribing  the  law,  or  that 
governor  and  sheriff  meant  the  same  sort  of  officer ;  or  that 
their  honors  of  the  legislature  had  taken  leave  of  their  wits. 
The  case  is  not  a  whit  stronger  than  the  case  of  a  presbyter 
and  bishop  in  the  epistle  to  Titus.  Again  :  Paul,  when  on 
his  last  journey  to  Jerusalem,  sends  for  the  presbyters  of 
Ephesus  to  meet  him  at  Miletus,  and  there  enjoins  these 
presbyters  to  feed  the  church  of  God  over  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  made  them  bishops.§  It  appears,  then,  that  the 
bishops  to  whom  Paul  refers  in  his  instructions  to  Timothy, 
were  neither  more  nor  less  than  plain  presbyters.  To  a  man 
who  has  no  turn  to  serve,  no  interest  in  perverting  the  ob- 
vious meaning  of  words,  one  would  think  that  a  mathemat- 
ical demonstration  could  not  carry  more  satisfactory  evi- 
dence."'* 

These  terms,  as  the  reader  must  have  noticed,  are  also 
precise   and  definite,  descriptive  of  a  peculiar  office,  which 

*  1  Tim.  3: 1.      f  Acts  14:  23.       t  Tit.  1:5.       §   Acts  20:  17,  28. 

*  Mason's   Works,  Vol.    III.  pp.   41—43.      Comp.   King,    Prim. 
Christ,  pp.  67,  68. 


130 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


he  is  in  no  danger  of  mistaking  for  any  other  in  the  apos- 
tolic church.  The  name  of  apostle  is  not  in  a  single  in- 
stance exchanged  for  that  of  bishop,  or  deacon.  But  the 
term  presbyter,  on  the  contrary,  is  in  a  few  instances  assumed 
by  the  apostles  as  an  appropriate  designation  of  their  office. 
"  The  elder,  nQea^vtEQog,  the  presbyter  unto  the  elect  lady," 
John,  Epist.  2,  1:  1.  The  presbyter  unto  the  well  beloved 
Gaius,  Epist.  3,  1:  1.  and  1  Peter  5:  1.  If  therefore,  this 
use  of  the  name  is  of  any  importance  in  the  argument,  it  in- 
timates that  presbyters  rather  than  bishops  are  the  true  suc- 
cessors of  the  apostles.  But  in  truth,  these  terms  are  not 
confounded  with  any  other  title ;  and  for  the  very  obvious 
reason,  that  they  are  descriptive  of  an  office  distinct  from  all 
others.  Why,  then,  are  these  particular  terms  mutually  in- 
terchanged one  with  the  other,  save  that  they  are  equally 
descriptive  of  the  same  office  ?  Indeed,  the  original  identity 
of  bishops  and  presbyters,  is  now  conceded  by  Episcopa- 
lians themselves.  ''  That  presbyters  were  called  bishops  I 
readily  grant;  that  this  proves  that  the  officer  who  was  then 
called  a  bishop,  and  consequently  the  office,  was  the  sanie.''^ 
"  The  Episcopalian  cannot  be  found  who  denies  the  inter- 
changeable employment  of  the  terms  bishop  and  presbyter 
in  the  New  Testament."^  Bishop  Burnet  admits  that  they 
**  are  used  promiscuously  by  the  writers  of  the  first  two  cen- 
turies." 

The  scriptural  title  of  the  office  under  consideration  is 
usually  that  of  presbyter  or  elder.  It  had  long  been  in  use 
in  the  synagogue.  It  denoted  an  office  familiar  to  every  Jew. 
It  conveyed  a  precise  idea  of  a  ruler  whose  powers  were  well 
defined  and  perfectly  understood.  When  adopted  into  the 
Christian  church,  its  meaning  must  have  been  easily  settled ; 
for  the  office  was  essentially  the  same  in  the  church  as  pre- 
viously in  the  synagogue.  Accordingly,  it  constantly  occurs 
• 

*  Bowden,  Works  on  Episcop.  Vol,  1.  p.  161. 

^  Chapman,  cited  in  Smyth's  Pres,  and  Prelacy,  p.  111. 


EQUALITY  OP  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  131 

in  the  writings  of  the  apostle,  to  denote  an  officer  familiarly 
known,  but  having  no  resemblance  to  a  modern  diocesan 
bishop.  The  term,  bishop,  occurs  but  five  times  in  the  New 
Testament ;  and,  in  each  instance,  in  such  a  connection  as  to 
be  easily  identified  with  that  of  presbyter.  The  former  is  de- 
rived from  the  Greek  language,  the  latter  has  a  Jewish  origin. 
Accordingly,  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  apostles,  when 
addressing  Jewish  Christians,  use  the  term  presbyter ;  but  in 
their  addresses  to  Gentile  converts,  they  adopt  the  term 
bishop^  as  less  obnoxious  to  those  who  spoke  the  Greek  lan- 
guage.7 

2.  A  presbyter  is  required  to  possess  the  same  qualifica- 
tions as  a  bishop. 

The  apostle  has  specified  at  length  the  qualifications,  both 
for  a  bishop  and  a  presbyter,  which  for  the  sake  of  compari- 
son, are  here  set  in  opposite  columns. 

QUALIFICATIONS. 

For  a  bishop,  Tim.  3 :  2—7.  For  a  presbyter,  Tit.  1 :  6—10. 

A  bishop   must  be   blameless,         If  any  be  blameless,  the  hus- 

the  husband  of  one  wife,  one  that     band  of  one  wife,  having  faithful 

ruleth  well  his  own  house,  having     children,  (who   are)  not  accused 

his  children  in  subjection  with  all     of  riot,  or  unruly.     V.  6. 

gravity.     For  if  a  man  know  not 

how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how 

shall  he  take  care  of  the  church 

of  God  ?     Vs.  2,  4,  5. 

Vigilant,  vrjipdltov,  circumspect,         A  lover  of  hospitality,  a  lover 

sober,  of  good  behaviour,  given  to     of  good  men,  sober,  just,   holy, 

hospitality,  apt  to  teach.  V.  2.  temperate,  holding  fast  the  faith- 
ful word  as  he  hath  been  taught, 
that  he  may  be  able  by  sound  doc- 
trine both  to  exhort,  and  to  con- 
vince the  gainsayers.     Vs.  8,  9. 

'Roth'e,  AnfUnge,  I.  218, 219.  Neander,  Apost.  Kirch.  I.  178, 179. 
Schoene,  Geschichtsforschungen,  I.  247 — 249.  Comp.  Bishop  Croft, 
in  Smyth's  Apost.  Succ.  p.  159. 


132  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Not  given  to  wine,  no  striker,         A  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as 
not   greedy   of  filthy   lucre,   but     the  steward  of  God,  not  self-will- 
patient,  fTTieixfj,  gentle,  not  soon     ed,  not  soon  angry,  not  given  to 
angry,   not  a  brawler,  not  cove-     wine,  no  striker,  not  given  to  fil- 
tous,    not    a  novice,   lest   being     thy  lucre.     V.7. 
lifted  up  with  pride,  he  fall  into 
the   condemnation  of  the   devil. 
Moreover,  he  must  have  a  good 
report  of  them  which  are   with- 
out, lest  he  fall  into  reproach,  and 
the  snare  of  the  devil.    Vs.  3,  6, 7. 

The  qualifications  are  identical  throughout.  Is  a  blame- 
less, sober  and  virtuous  life,  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  requir- 
ed of  a  bishop  ?  so  are  they  of  a  presbyter.  Whatever  is 
needful  for  the  one,  is  equally  essential  for  the  other.  If, 
then,  there  be  this  wide  and  perpetual  distinction  between 
the  two,  which  Episcopacy  claims,  how  extraordinary  that 
the  apostle,  when  stating  the  qualifications  of  a  humble  pres- 
byter, should  not  abate  an  iota  from  those  which  are  requi- 
site for  the  high  office  of  a  bishop.  How  strong  the  pre- 
sumption, or  rather  how  irresistible  the  conviction,  that  this 
dignitary  of  the  modern  church  was  totally  unknown  in  those 
days  of  primitive,  republican  simplicity  ;  and  that  the  bishop 
of  the  apostolic  churches  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  a 
plain,  simple  presbyter,  the  pastor  of  any  church  over  which 
he  had  been  duly  constituted.  The  conclusion  is  unavoida- 
ble, that,  in  the  case  before  us,  the  author  is  only  designating 
the  same  office  by  different  names,  of  similar  import.  Such 
is  the  decision  of  the  great  Jerome,  the  most  learned  of  the 
Latin  fathers.  '*  In  both  epistles,"  referring  to  those  now 
under  consideration,  "  whether  bishops  or  presbyters  are  to 
be  elected,  (for  with  the  ancients,  bishops  and  presbyters 
must  have  been  the  same,  the  one  being  descriptive  of  rank 
and  the  other  of  age,)  they  are  required  each  to  be  the  hus- 
band of  one  wife."^ 

8  In  utraque  epistola  sive  episcopi  sive  presbyteri  (quanquam  apud 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  133 

3,  The  duties  of  a  presbyter  are  the  same  as  those  of  a 
bishop. 

As  bishops  and  presbyters  are  called  by  the  same  names,, 
and  required  to  possess  the  same  qualifications,  so  they  are 
summoned  to  discharge  the  same  ojicial  duties.  Their  duties, 
severally  and  equally,  are  to  rule,  to  counsel  and  instruct, 
to  administer  the  ordinances,  and  to  ordain. 

{n)  Both  exercised  the  same  authority  over  the  church. 

If  bishops  were  known  in  the  apostolical  churches,  as  s 
distinct  order,  the  right  of  government  confessedly  belonged 
to  them.  We  have,  therefore,  only  to  show  that  presbyters 
exercised  the  same  right.  This  exercise  of  authority  is  de- 
noted in  the  New  Testament  by  several  terms,  each  of  which 
is  distinctly  applied  to  presbyters. 

(a)  Such  is  ^yeofiaiy  to  lead,  to  guide,  etc.  In  Heb.  13r 
7  and  17,  this  term  occurs.  Remember  them  that  have  the 
rule  over  you,  tav  ^yov^evcov  vfzcov.  Obey  them  that  have 
rule  over  you,  roTg  '^yovfisvoig  v^imv.  The  first  exhortation  to 
the  Hebrews,  the  apostle  enforces  by  an  immediate  reference 
to  their  deceased  pastors ;  and  the  second,  by  reference  to 
those  who  still  survived  to  watch  for  their  souls.  Are  these 
references  to  diocesan  bishops,  or  to  those  presbyters  who  reg- 
ularly performed  among  the  Hebrews  the  duties  of  a  presbyter  ? 

(^)  Another  term  expressive  of  authority  over  the  church 
is,  TtQoiGTtim,  to  preside,  to  rule.  Xenophon  uses  this  verb 
to  express  the  act  of  leading  or  ruling  an  ancient  chorus  and 
an  army. 9  The  apostle  Paul  uses  the  same  to  express  the  au- 
thority which  the  presbyters  exercised  rs  rulers  of  the  church. 

"  We  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  know  them  which  labor 

veteres  iidem  episcopi  et  presbyteri  fuerint  quia  illud  nomen  dignita- 
tis est,  hoc  aetatis)  jubentur  monogami  in  clerum  eligi. — Ep.  83,  ad 
Oceanum,  Tom.  4.  p.  648. 

^  OvStv  o[xoi6%>  tort  yoQov  re  nai  aT()arni/uaToe  itQosardvai.  "  Be- 
tween the  taking  the  lead  of  a  chorus  and  the  command  of  an  army," 
both  expressed  by  n^osaxdvat,  "  theie  is  no  analogy." — Mem.  3.  4.  3. 

13 


134  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

among  you  and  are  over  you,  TZQaiazafitvovg,  in  the  Lord." 
1  Thess.  5:  12.  Prelates  of  the  church,  these  j^resbT/ters  can- 
not have  been ;  for  there  were  several,  it  appears,  in  this  sin- 
gle city,  a  circumstance  totally  incompatibte  with  the  organ- 
ization of  diocesan  Episcopacy.  The  whole,  taken  together, 
is  descriptive,  not  of  a  bishop  in  his  see,  but  of  a  presbyter,  a 
pastor,  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  parochial  duties.  Again, 
"  Let  the  elders,  presbyters,  that  rule  well,  be  accounted  wor- 
thy of  double  honor,"  ol  xaXojg  TiQot^TOJitg  Tznea^vztQOi.  1 
Tim.  5:  17.  Here  are  presbyters  ruling  over  the  church  of 
Ephesus,  where,  according  to  the  Episcopal  theory,  Timothy, 
as  bishop,  had  established  the  seat  of  his  apostolical  see. 

{y)  Another  term  of  frequent  occurrence,  in  writers  both 
sacred  and  profane  of  approved  authority,  is  noinalvcOyto  feed, 
metaphorically,  to  cherish,  to  provide  for,  to  rule,  to  govern. 
It  expresses  the  office,  and  comprehends  all  the  duties  of  a 
shepherd.  This  term  the  apostle  uses  in  his  exhortation  to 
the  presbyters  of  Ephesus  at  Miletus.  "  Take  heed  to  your- 
selves, and  to  all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
made  you  bishops,  to  feed,  Tzoifiaivsiv,  the  church  of  God." 
Beyond  all  question,  this  term,  both  in  classic  and  hellenistic 
Greek,  expresses  the  power  of  government.  Both  this  and 
^yoi(i8vog  above  mentioned,  are  used  in  the  same  passage  to 
express  the  government  of  Christ,  the  chief  Shepherd,  over 
his  people  Israel.  "  Thou,  Bethlehem,  in  the  land  of  Juda, 
art  not  the  least  among  the  princess  of  Juda,  for  out  of  thee 
shall  come  a  governor,  riyol^evog,  who  shall  rule,  noiiiavei, 
my  people  Israel."  Without  further  illustration,  which  might 
easily  be  added,  we  have  sufficient  evidence,  from  what  has 
been  said,  that  the  presbyters  were  invested  with  all  the  autho- 
rity to  guide,  govern,  and  provide  for  the  church,  which  the 
bishop  himself  could  exercise.  The  very  same  terms  which  ex- 
press the  highest  power  of  government,  and  which  are  applied 
to  the  office  even  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  are  used  to 
express  the  authority  of  presbyters,  and  to  set  forth  the  power 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESS FTERS.  135 

with  which  they  are  invested  to  rule  and  feed  the  church.  No 
intimation  is  given  of  any  higher  power  in  any  minister  of 
Christ ;  neither  have  we  terms  to  express  any  superior  au- 
thority. The  conclusion  therefore  is,  that  they  "  are  invested 
with  the  highest  power  of  government  known  in  the  church." 

(b)  Presbyters  were  the  authorized  counsellors  of  the  church; 
and,  in  connection  with  the  apostles,  constituted  the  highest 
court  of  appeal  for  the  settlement  of  controversies  in  the 
church. 

About  the  year  45  or  50,  a  spirited  controversy  arose  at 
Antioch,  which  threatened  to  rend  the  church,  and  to  hinder 
the  progress  of  that  gospel  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  had 
begun  successfully  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles.  It  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  this  dispute  should  be  immediately 
and  finally  settled.  For  this  purpose,  a  delegation,  consist- 
ing of  Paul,  and  Barnabas,  and  others,  was  sent  from  the 
church  at  Antioch,  on  an  embassy  to  Jerusalem,  to  submit 
the  subject  under  discussion  to  the  examination  and  decision 
of  the  church,  with  the  apostles  and  presbyters.  This  dele- 
gation was  kindly  received  by  the  members  of  the  church 
at  Jerusalem,  with  their  officers,  the  apostles,  teachers  and  el- 
ders, and  to  them  the  whole  subject  of  the  dissension  at  Anti- 
och was  submitted.  Peter,  John  and  James  were,  at  this  time, 
at  Jerusalem,  and,  with  Paul,  Barnabas  and  Titus,  were 
members  of  this  council.  The  subject  was  discussed  at 
length  on  both  sides,  but  the  concurring  opinions  of  Peter, 
Paul  and  James  finally  prevailed,  and  the  council  united 
harmoniously  in  the  sentiments  expressed  by  these  apostles. 
It  is  observ.able,  however,  that  the  result  of  the  council  was 
given,  not  in  the  name  of  James^o  q^  any  one  of  the  apostles, 

'°  That  James  did  not  draw  up  this  decree  as  "  the  head  of  the 
church  at  Jerusalem,"  and  as  his  "authoritative  sentence,"  is  un- 
answerably shown  by  Rev.  Dr.  Mason,  in  his  Review  of  Essays  on 
Episcopacy.  The  amount  of  the  argument  is,  that  James  simply  ex- 
presses his  opinion  J  \erse  19}  just  as  Peter  and  Paul  had  done  before. 


136 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


but  conjointly,  by  the  apostles,  and  preshyte7's,  and  brethren. 
Acts  15:  23.  With  this  decision  the  delegation  returned  to 
Antioch,  accompanied  by  Judas  and  Silas.  The  message  of 
the  council  was  received  by  the  assembled  church  at  Anti- 
och, who  gladly  acquiesced  in  that  decision.  Throughout 
the  whole  narrative  the  presbyters  appear  as  the  authorized 
counsellors  of  the  church,  and  the  only  ordinary  offi.cers  of 
the  churchy  whose  opinion  is  sought  in  connection  with  that 
of  the  apostles,  without  any  intimation  of  an  intermediate 
grade  of  bishops. " 

(c)  It  was  the  appropriate  -office  of  the  presbyters  to  ad- 
minister the  ordinances  of  the  church. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  the  performance  of  these  duties 
could  have  been  restricted  to  the  apostles.  The  sacrament 
was  at  first  administered  daily  ;12  and  afterwards,  on  each 
Lord's  day  as  a  part  of  public  worship.  The  frequency  and 
universality  of  the  ordinance,  of  necessity  required  that  it 
should  be  administered  by  the  ordinary  ministers  of  the 
church.  Baptism,  by  a  like  necessity,  devolved  upon  them. 
The  numerous  and  far-spreading  triumphs  of  the  gospel  utter- 
ly forbid  the  idea,  that  the  apostles,  few  in  number,  and 
charged  with  the  high  commission  of  preaching  the  gospel, 

So  the  word,  hqIvoj,  in  the  connection  in  which  it  is  used,  implies,  and 
so  it  was  understood  by  the  sacred  historian,  who  in  Acts  16:  4,  de- 
clares, that  the  "  authoritative  sentence,"  the  decrees,  were  ordained 
by  the  apostles  and  preshijters.  Coinp.  also,  Acts  21:  25.  The  case 
was  not  referred  to  James,  neither  could  it  be  submitted  to  him  as 
bishop  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch  lying  entirely  without  his  diocese,  even 
on  the  supposition  that  Jerusalem  was  the  seat  of  his  Episcopal  see. 
The  authority  of  this  decree  was  also  acknowledged  in  all  the  church- 
es of  Asia.  The  supposition,  that  it  was  the  official  and  authoritative 
sentence  of  James  as  bishop,  exalts  hun  above  all  the  other  apostles 
who  were  members  of  the  council,  and  gives  him  a  power,  far-reach- 
ing and  authoritative  beyond  that  which  belonged  to  St.  Peter  him- 
self, the  prelatical  head  of  the  church. 

"  Comp.  Rothe,  Anfange,  Vol.  I.  S.  181, 182. 

12  Neander,  Apost.  Kirch.  1.  p.  30. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  137 

and  giving  themselves  wholly  to  this  as  their  appropriate  work, 
could  have  found  time  and  means  for  going  everywhere,  and 
baptizing  with  their  own  hands  all  that  believed  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Besides,  they  appear  expressly  to  have  dis- 
claimed this  work,  and  to  have  entrusted  the  service  chiefly 
to  other  hands.  "  I  thank  God  that  I  baptized  none  of  you 
but  Crispus  and  Gains.  And  I  baptized  also  the  household 
of  Stephanas  ;  besides,  I  know  not  whether  I  baptized  any 
other.  For  Christ  sent  me,  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach." 
1  Cor.  1:  14 — 17.  Cornelius,  again,  was  baptized,  not  by 
Peter,  but  by  some  christian  disciple,  agreeable  to  his  com- 
mand. The  apostles,  indeed,  very  seldom  baptized.  The 
inference  therefore  is,  that  this  service  was  by  them  commit- 
ted to  the  presbyters,  the  ordinary  officers  of  the  church. 

The  right  of  presbyters  to  administer  these  ordinances  is 
clearly  asserted  by  Augusti  and  other  writers  on  the  subject, 
as  exhibited  in  our  Christian  Antiquities. 13  Even  the  Epis- 
copalian, who  claims  this  right  as  the  peculiar  prerogative  of 
the  bishop,  and  maintains  that  the  presbyter  only  acted  as 
his  representative,  still  admits  that,  previous  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Episcopal  system,  the  ordinances  were  adminis- 
tered by  presbyters.  To  this  effect  is  one  of  the  latest  and 
best  authorities.  "In  the  earliest  times,  when  no  formal  dis- 
tinction between  miaKonoL  [bishops'],  and  Tzgea^vTeQOi,  [j)res- 
bi/ters],  had  taken  place,  the  presbyters,  especially  the  ttqos- 
ardazeg  [presiding  presbyters],  1  Tim.  5:  17,  discharged 
those  Episcopal  functions,  which,  afterwards,  when  a  careful 
distinction  of  ecclesiastical  officers  had  been  made,  they 
were  not  permitted  to  discharge,  otherwise  than  as  substi- 
tutes or  vicars  of  a  bishop.  Instances,  however,  do  some- 
times occur  in  later  times,  of  presbyters  having  officiated  in 
matters  which,  according  to  the  canon-law,  belonged  only 
to  the  Episcopal  office."i4 

13  Chap.  III.  §  8.  ^*  Riddle,  Chr.  Antiquities,  p.  233. 

12* 


138 


THE  PRIMITIVE   CHIJRCH. 


Tertullian  asserts  the  right  even  of  the  laity  both  to  bap- 
tize, tingere,  and  to  administer  the  sacrament,  offere.  His 
reasons  are,  that  the  distinction  between  the  clergy  and  laity 
is  the  device  of  the  church, — that  in  the  Scriptures  all  are 
priests  of  God,  and  that,  having  the  right  of  priesthood  in 
themselves,  the  laity  are  at  liberty  to  perform  the  offices  of 
the  priesthood,  as  they  may  have  occasion. i^ 

Even  Rigaltius,  a  Roman  Catholic,  in  commenting  on 
this  passage,  admits  that  the  laity  vi^ere  permitted,  in  the 
primitive  church,  to  administer  the  ordinances,  though  it  was 
afterwards  forbidden  in  the  ecclesiastical  law.  The  same  is 
also  affirmed  by  the  learned  Erasmus.i^  If  further  evidence 
of  the  fact  be  needful  it  may  be  found  given  at  length  in 
the  treatises  of  Grotius.i7 

'^  Vani  erimus  si  putaverimus,  quod  Bacerdotibus  non  liceat,  laicis 
licere.  Nonne  et  laici  sacerdotes  sumus  ?  Scriptum  est  regnum  quo- 
que  nos  et  sacerdotes  Deo  et  Patri  suo  fecit.  Differentiam  inter  ordi- 
nern  et  plebem  constituit  ecclcsiae  auctoritas^  et  honor  per  ordinis  con- 
sessum  sanctificatus  a  Deo,  ibi  eccleslastici  ordinis  non  est  confes- 
Bus?  Et  offers  et  tingis  ;  sacerdos  estibi  solus.  Sed  ubi  tres,  ecclesia 
est,  licet  laici ;  unusquisque  de  sua  fide  vivit;  nee  est  personarum  ex- 
ceptio  apud  Deum,  quoniam  nonauditores  legis  justificabuntur  a  Deo, 
€ed  factores,  secundum  quod  et  apostolus  dicit.  Ig^itur  si  habes  jus 
eacerdotis  in  temetipso  ubi  necesse  sit,  habeas  oportet  etiam  discipli- 
nam  sacerdotis,  ubi  necesse  sit  habere  jus  sacerdotis. — Dc  Exhort. 
Cast.  c.  7.  The  same  thing  also  is  implied  in  another  passage,  from 
Tertullian,  De  Virgin.  Vet.  c.  9,  in  which  he  denies  to  tcomen  this 
right.  The  denial  of  the  right  to  women  is  an  admission  that  it  was 
the  authorized  prerogative  of  the  other  sex. 

^^  Constat  temporibus  apostolorum  fuisse  synaxin  quam  laici  inter 
se  faciebant  adhibita  praecatione  et  benedictione,  et  eam  panem,  ut 
est  probabile,  appellabant  corpus  Domini,  ut  frequenter  etiam  sacris 
Uteris  eadem  vox  signo  et  rei  signatae  accommodatur  Fieri  enim  po- 
test ut  de  hac  synaxi  loquatur  ibi  Origenes. — Ep  Lib.  26,  Vol.  Ill, 
Origen,  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  was  permitted  by  two 
bishops,  in  Palestine,  to  explain  the  Scriptures  to  their  congregation, 
though  he  had  never  been  ordained.  And  many  bishops  of  the  East, 
according  to  Eusebius,  allowed  even  the  laity  to  preach. — Eccl.  Hist, 
6.  c.  19.     Comp.  Neander,  Allgemein.  Gesch.  1.  S.  336,  2d  edit. 

*'  Tract.,  De  Coenae  Jldministratione  ubi  pastores  non  su7it. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  139 

{d)  It  was  the  right  of  presbyters  to  ordain. 
What  reason  can  be  assigned,  may  we  ask,  why  they 
should  not  solemnize  this  rite,  as  well  as  perform  other  min- 
isterial duties?  What  solemnity  has  this  rite  above  all  oth- 
ers, that  its  performance  must  be  restricted  to  one  order  of 
the  priesthood  ?  It  is  the  right  of  the  presbyter  to  baptize,  to 
administer  the  sacrament,  to  instruct  and  provide  for  all  the 
spiritual  wants  of  the  flock  of  Christ,  as  the  shepherd  and 
bishop  of  their  souls ;  and  has  he  no  right  to  induct  into 
the  sacred  office,  his  fellow-laborers  and  successors  in  the 
service  of  the  chief  Shepherd  ?^s  Until  assured  of  the  con- 
trary by  the  word  of  God,  we  must  presume  that  the  right  to 
ordain  belongs  to  those  presbyters  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  has 
made  overseers  of  the  flock,  to  feed  the  church  of  God. 

The  subject  of  our  present  inquiry  hardly  admits  of  an 
appeal  to  Scripture ;  for  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament 
have  left  us  no  specific  instructions  on  this  subject.  Neither 
have  we  any  uniform  precedent  in  the  apostolical  churches. 
The  apostles  were  not  set  apart  by  any  solemnity  beside 
their  commission  from  Christ.  He  lifted  up  his  hands,  in- 
deed, and  blessed  them,  as  he  was  parted  from  them,  and 
they  were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  act  was  signifi- 
cant of  the  miraculous  communication  of  spiritual  gifts,  as 
in  various  other  instances,  Acts  8:  17.  19:6;  but  had  no 
analogy  to  Episcopal  ordination.  No  record  is  given  of  any 
formal  ordination  of  Matthias,  after  his  election  to  the  apos- 
tolical office. 

The  seven  deacons  were  inducted  into  their  office  by 
prayer,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands.  This  may  have  been, 
and  perhaps  was,  the  usual  mode  of  setting  apart  any  one  to 
a  religious  service.  But  was  the  imposition  of  hands  exclu- 
sively ordination?  It  was  a  rite  familiar  to  the  Jews;  and 
denoted  either  a  benediction,  or  the  communication  of  mirac- 
ulous gifts.     Jacob,  in  blessing  the  sons  of  Joseph,  laid  his 

15  Comp.  Gerhardi,  Loci  Theolog.  Vol.  XII.  p.  159. 


140  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

hands  upon  their  heads.  So  Jesus  took  young  children  in 
his  arms  and  blessed  them,  laying  his  hands  upon  them.  So 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  dismissed,  to  go  on  their  missionary 
tour,  with  the  blessing  of  the  brethren  at  Antioch,  by  the 
laying  on  of  hands,  Acts  13:  3.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  specific  office  of  the  prophet  and  teachers  at  Antioch, 
they  were  not  apostles.  On  the  supposition,  therefore,  that 
the  laying  on  of  hands  was  performed  by  them,  no  reason  ap- 
pears why  the  same  might  not  be  done  with  equal  propriety  by 
presbyters.  But  this  was  not  an  ordination  of  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas ;  for  they  had  long  been  engaged  in  ministerial  duties. 
The  imposition  of  hands  appears  also  in  some  instances 
to  have  occurred  more  than  once,  as  in  the  case  of  Timothy, 
upon  whom  this  rite  was  performed  by  the  presbytery,  1  Tim. 
4:  14;  and  again,  by  the  apostle  Paul,  2  Tim.  1:  6.  Such 
at  least  is  the  understanding  which  Rothe  has  of  the  case.i^ 
This  fact  forbids  the  supposition,  that  the  laying  on  of 
hands  was  the  solemnizing  act  in  the  rite  of  ordination, 
which,  according  to  all  ecclesiastical  usage,  cannot  be  re- 
peated. In  the  passage.  Acts  14:  23,  the  phrase  x^iQOTOvri- 
GavT£.g,  etc.  has  been  already  shown  to  relate,  not  to  the  con- 
secration, but  to  the  appointment  of  the  elders  in  every 
church.'2o 

19  Rothe,  AnPclnge  der  Christ.  Kirch.  S.  161. 

^  "  Where,  it  may  be  asked,  resides  the  right^  or  power,  and  in 
what  consists  the  importance  of  ordination  ?  It  is  not  the  source  of 
ministerial  authority  ;  for  that,  as  it  has  been  endeavored  to  show, 
does  not,  and  cannot,  rest  on  human  foundation.  It  does  not  admit 
to  the  pastoral  office  ;  for  even  in  the  Episcopal  church,  the  title  to 
office,  which  is  an  indispensable  pre-requisite,  is  derived  from  the 
nomination  of  the  person  who  has  the  disposal  of  the  case.  It  is  not 
office,  but  official  character,  which  Episcopal  ordination  is  supposed 
to  convey,  together  with  whatsoever  the  advocates  of  Episcopacy 
may  choose  to  understand  by  those  solemn  words,  used  by  the  ordain- 
ing bishop  (an  application  of  them  which  Nonconformists  deem  aw- 
fully inappropriate),  '  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost.'  The  Jewish  ordina- 
tion, on  the  contrary,  although  sometimes  accompanied,  when  admin- 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  141 

The  imposition  of  hands  is  a  rite  derived  from  the  Jews, 
and  significant  of  the  communication  of  the  gifts  of  the 
Father.  This  venerable  rite  was  used  by  Christ,  and  with 
great  propriety  has  been  retained  in  the  Christian  church. 
But  with  the  apostles  it  was  the  customary  mode  of  impart- 
ing the  yaQLaiiaza,  the  miraculous  gifts  of  that  age.  So  the 
converts  at  Samaria  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  Acts  8  :  17, 
and  in  the  like  manner,  when  Paul  had  laid  his  hands  upon 
the  Ephesian  converts,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  them, 
and  they  spake  with  tongues  and  prophesied,  Acts  19  :  6.  In 
the  same  sense  is  to  be  understood  the  gift,  ^(^Qiafiaj  which 
was  bestowed  on  Timothy  by  prophecy,  with  the  laying  on  of 
the  hands  of  the  presbytery,  1  Tim.  4:  14.     The  meaning 

* 
istered  by  the  apostles,  by  the  communication  of  miraculous  gifts, 
was  in  itself  no  more  than  a  significant  form  of  benediction  on  ad- 
mission to  a  specific  appointment.  Of  this  nature  were  the  offices 
connected  with  the  synagogue,  in  contradistinction  from  those  of  the 
priesthood.  When  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  sent  out  from  the  church 
at  Antioch,  they  submitted  to  the  same  impressive  ceremony  :  not 
surely  that  either  authority,  or  power  of  any  kind,  or  miraculous 
qualifications,  devolved  upon  the  apostle  and  his  illustrious  compan- 
ion, by  virtue  of  the  imposition  of  Presbyterian  hands  !  What  then 
is  ordination  ?  The  answer  is,  a  decent  and  becoming  solemnity,  adop- 
ted from  the  Jewish  customs  by  the  primitive  church,  significant  of  the 
separation  of  an  individual  to  some  specific  appointment  in  the  christian 
•ministry,  and  constituting  both  a  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  officia- 
ting presbyters,  of  the  ministerial  character  of  the  person  appointed^  and 
a  desirable  sanction  of  the  proceedings  of  the  church.  It  is,  however, 
something  more  than  a  mere  circumstance,  the  imposition  of  hands 
being  designed  to  express  that  fervent  benediction  which  accom- 
panied the  ceremony,  and  which  constitutes  the  true  spirit  of  the  rite. 
To  an  occasion  which,  when  the  awful  responsibility  of  the  pastoral 
charge  is  adequately  felt,  imparts  to  the  prayers  and  the  affectionate 
aid  of  those  who  are  fathers  and  brethren  in  the  ministry,  a  more  es- 
pecial value,  the  sign  and  solemn  act  of  benediction  must  appear  pe- 
culiarly appropriate.  This  venerable  ceremony  may  also  be  regarded 
as  a  sort  of  bond  of  fellowship  among  the  churches  of  Christ,  a  sign 
of  unity,  and  an  act  of  brotherhood." — Condcr's  Protestant  Noncon- 
formity, Vol.  I.  p.  242. 


142  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

simply  is,  that  by  the  imposition  of  hands  that  peculiar 
spiritual  gift  denominated  prophecy  was  imparted  to  Tim- 
othy.2i  Of  the  same  import  are  2  Tim.  1:  6,  and  1  Tim. 
5:  22.  Both  relate  to  the  communication  of  spiritual  gifts. 
If  the  rite  of  ordination  was  implied  and  included  in  it,  then 
the  same  act  must  be  expressive  both  of  this  induction  into 
office,  and  of  the  communication  of  spiritual  gifts.  This 
is  Neander's  explanation  of  the  transaction.  "  The  conse- 
cration to  offices  in  the  church  was  conducted  in  the  follow- 
ing manner.  After  those  persons  to  whom  its  performance 
belonged,  had  laid  their  hands  on  the  head  of  the  candidate, 
— a  symbolic  action  borrowed  from  the  Jewish  n^'^Tlp, — they 
besought  the  Lord  that  he  would  grant,  what  this  symbol  de- 
noted, the  impartation  of  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit  for  carrying 
on  the  office  thus  undertaken  in  his  name.  If,  as  was  pre- 
sumed, the  whole  ceremony  corresponded  to  its  intent,  and 
the  requisite  disposition  existed  in  those  for  whom  it  was  per- 
formed, there  was  reason  for  considering  the  communication 
of  the  spiritual  gifts  necessary  for  the  office,  as  connected 
with  this  consecration  performed  in  the  name  of  Christ. 
And  since  Paul  from  this  point  of  view  designated  the  whole 
of  the  solemn  proceeding  (without  separating  it  into  its  va- 
rious elements),  by  that  which  was  its  external  symbol  (as, 
in  scriptural  phraseology,  a  single  act  of  a  transaction  con- 
sisting of  several  parts,  and  sometimes  that  which  was  most 
striking  to  the  senses,  is  often  mentioned  for  the  whole) ;  he 
required  of  Timothy  that  he  should  seek  to  revive  afresh 
the  spiritual  gifts  that  he  had  received  by  the  laying  on  of 
hands."22 

The  question  has  been  asked,  but  never  yet  answered, 
who  ordained  Apollos  ?  See  Acts  18:  24—26.  1  Cor.  3: 
5—7. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  case  of  Paul  the  apostle.     Of 

21  Rothe,  Anfange,  1.  S.  161. 

22  Neander,  Apost.  Kirch.  1.  213.    Comp.  pp.  88,  300,  3d  edit. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  143 

whom  did  he  receive  ordination  ?  One  Ananias,  a  disciple 
and  a  devout  man  according  to  the  law,  and  having  a  good 
report  of  all  the  Jews  that  dwelt  at  Damascus, — this  man 
prayed  and  laid  his  hands  upon  Paul,  and  straightway  he 
preached  Christ  in  the  synagogues.  Soon  after  this  he  spent 
three  years  in  Arabia ;  then,  for  a  whole  year  he  and  Barna- 
bas assembled  themselves  ivith  the  church  and  taught  much 
people  at  Antioch,  Acts  11:  26.  After  all  this,  he  was  sent 
forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  his  mission  to  the  Gentiles. 
Preparatory  to  this  mission  he  was  recommended  to  the 
grace  of  God,  by  fasting,  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands. 
Even  this  was  not  done  by  any  of  the  apostles,  but  by  cer- 
tain prophets  and  teachers,  such  as  Simeon,  Lucius  and 
Manaen.  Even  on  the  supposition,  therefore,  that  these 
were  the  solemnities  of  Paul's  ordination,  he  was  not  Epis- 
copally  ordained.  But,  in  truth,  they  had  no  reference  what- 
ever to  his  ordination.  On  the  authority  of  his  divine  com- 
mission, he  had  already  been  a  preacher  for  several  years. 
It  was,  not  a  new  appointment,  but  an  appointment  to  a  new 
work,  which  in  no  degree  helps  forward  the  cause  of  prela- 
tical  ordination.23 

We  have,  indeed,  adopted  from  apostolic  usage,  a  signifi- 
cant, impressive  and  becoming  rite,  by  which  to  induct  one 
into  the  sacred  office  of  the  ministry.  The  rite  ought  al- 
ways to  be  observed.  But  no  direct  precept,  no  uniform 
usage,  gives  to  this  rite  the  sanction  of  divine  authority ; 
above  all,  there  is  not  in  all  the  Scriptures,  the  least  author- 
ity for  confining  the  administration  of  it  exclusively  to  the 
bishop.  The  idea  of  a  bishop's  receiving  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
regular  succession  from  the  holy  apostles,  and  transmitting 
the  heavenly  grace  to  others  by  the  laying  on  of  his  hands, 
is  a  figment  of  prelatical  pride  and  superstition  unauthorized 
in  Scripture,  and  unknown  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the  church. 

^  Bowdler's  Letters  on  Apostolical  Succession,  p.  22. 


144  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

But  the  historical  argument  in  relation  to  the  subject  of  or- 
dination by  presbyters  is  considered  below. 

The  claims  of  Episcopacy,  on  the  ground  of  an  original 
distinction  between  the  names  and  titles  of  bishop  and  pres- 
byters seem  now  to  be  wholly  abandoned,  even  by  Episco- 
palians themselves.  "  Even  if  Timothy,"  says  the  Chris- 
tian Observer,  "  had  been  distinctly  called  bishop  of  Ephe- 
sus,  and  Titus  bishop  of  Crete,  Episcopalians  would  build 
nothing  on  that  nomenclature  as  regards  Episcopacy,  being 
a  distinct  order  from  Presbytery,  for  presbyters  are  admitted 
to  have  been  called  bishops.  The  disparity  is  proved  by 
other  considerations."24 

Even  the  church  of  Rome  acknowledges  the  identity  of 
the  orders  of  presbyter  and  bishop,  and  reckons  among  the 
three  greater,  or  holy  orders,  those  of  priest,  deacon  and 
subdeacon. 

Bishop  Onderdonk  makes  also  the  same  concession.  "  As 
some  readers  of  this  essay  may  not  be  ftimiliar  with  the  con- 
troversy, it  is  proper  to  advert  to  the  fact,  that  the  name 
*  bishops,'  which  now  designates  the  highest  grade  of  the 
ministry,  is  not  appropriated  to  that  office  in  Scripture, 
That  name  is  given  to  the  middle  order,  or  presbyters  ;  and 
all  that  we  read  in  the  New  Testament,  concerning  *  bishops' 
(including,  of  course,  the  words  '  overseers'  and  *  oversight,' 
which  have  the  same  derivation),  is  to  be  regarded  as  per- 
taining to  that  middle  grade."  Bishops  and  presbyters  are 
identical,  then,  in  the  Scriptures,  according  to  our  American 
bishop,  who  traces  his  own  descent  from  a  higher  grade  of 
offices  known  by  no  specific  name  in  Scripture,  but  em- 
bracing the  apostles,  and  Titus  and  Timothy,  and  the  angels 
of  the  seven  churches  who  are  not  honored  with  any  dis- 
tinct, official  title.25     The  whole  fabric  of  Episcopacy  is  here 

24  Christian  Observer,  1842,  p.  59. 

'^  "  The  highest  grade  is  there  found  in  those  called  apostles,  and 
in  some  other  individuals,  as  Titus  and  Timothy,  and  the  angels  of 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  145 

made  to  rest  upon  a  certain  nameless  grade,  whose  succes- 
sors have  uncourteously  appropriated  to  themselves  exclusive- 
ly an  official  title  which  by  divine  right  belonged  also  to  the 
presbyters.  The  issue  of  the  argument,  accordingly,  turns 
chiefly  upon  the  proposition  which  comes  next  under  consid- 
eration. 

4.  There  was,  in  the  apostolical  churches,  no  ordinary! 
class  of  minivSters  superior  to  that  of  presbyters  or  bishops. 

We  deny  entirely  that  Timothy,  or  Titus,  or  any  other 
person,  or  class  of  persons  named  in  Scripture,  represents  an 
order  of  ministers,  in  the  churches  planted  by  the  apostles^ 
who  were  invested  with  prerogatives  superior  to  those  of 
presbyters;  and  whose  office  was  to  be  perpetuated  in  the 
church  of  Christ.  In  opposition  to  these  Episcopal  preten- 
sions, we  remark  : 

[a)  That  no  distinct  appellation  is  given  to  the  supposed 
order,  and  no  class  of  religious  teachers  represents  thim  in 
the  Scriptures. 

If  there  were  such  an  order,  it  is  surely  extraordinary  that 
it  should  have  been  left  without  a  name,  or  a  distinctive  appel- 
lation of  any  kind.  Here  is  the  highest  grade  of  officers  pos- 
sessed exclusively  of  certain  ministerial  rights  and  powers, 
from  whom  all  clerical  grace  has  been  transmitted  by  Episco- 
pal succession,  age  after  age,  down  to  the  present  time  ;  and 
yet  this  grade  is  distinguished  by  no  peculiar  appellation,  and 
represented  by  no  single  class  or  order  of  men.  The  infe- 
rior orders,  presbyters  and  deacons,  are  specified  with  great 
distinctness,  but  the  highest  and  most  important  of  all  has  no 
definite  name,  no  distinct  and  single  representative.  Yet 
the  modern  bishop,  with  astonishing  credulity  traces  back  his 
spiritual  lineage,  we  had  almost  said,  through  a  thousand  gen- 

the  seven  churches  of  Asia,  who  have  no  ofRcial  designation  given 
them.  It  was  after  the  apostolic  age  that  the  name  '  bishop'  was 
taken  from  the  second  order  and  appropriated  to  the  first." — Bishop 
OnderdonW s  Episcopacy^  tested  hy  Scripture. 

13 


146  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

erations,  in  strange  uncertainty  all  the  while,  to  whom  he 
shall  at  last  attach  himself,  or  with  whom  claim  kindred.  If 
Peter  fails  him,  he  flies  to  Paul,  to  James,  to  Timothy,  to 
Titus,  to  the  angel  of  the  church,  to — he  knows  not  whom. 
He  is,  however,  a  legitimate  descendant  and  successor  of  some 
apostolical  bishop.  He  is  sure  of  that ;  but  that  bishop — 
nobody  knows  who  he  is,  or  what,  precisely,  his  office  may 
have  been ! 

(6)  We  deny  that  the  Scriptures  give  any  authority  for 
ascribing  to  either  of  the  apostles,  or  to  their  assistants  and 
fellow-laborers,  the  exercise  of  Episcopal  authority. 

The  fathers  do  indeed  concur  in  assigning  Episcopal  Sees 
to  several  of  the  apostles,  and  to  their  helpers.  And  mod- 
ern Episcopalians  refer  us  with  great  confidence  to  James, 
to  Timothy,  Titus,  and  to  the  angels  of  the  churches  in  the 
epistles  of  the  apocalypse,  as  instances  of  primitive  bishops. 
Now  we  deny  that  either  of  these  exercised  the  rights  and 
prerogatives  of  an  Episcopal  bishop. 

(a)  James  was  not  bishop  of  Jerusalem. 

We  have  already  seen^s  with  what  care  the  apostles  guard- 
ed against  any  assumption  of  authority  over  the  churches. 
They  taught,  they  counselled,  they  administered,  they  re- 
proved, indeed,  with  the  authority  belonging  to  ambassadors 
of  God  and  ministers  of  Christ.  But  they  assumed  net  to 
rule  and  to  govern  with  the  official  power  of  a  diocesan. 
The  evidence  of  this  position  is  already  before  the  reader, 
and  to  his  consideration  we  submit  it  without  further  remark. 

But  James,  it  is  said,  resided  at  Jerusalem,  as  bishop  of 
that  church  and  diocese;  and,  in  this  capacity,  offers  us  a 
scriptural  example  of  an  apostolical  bishop.  The  Episco- 
pal functions  of  this  bishop,  therefore,  require  a  particular 
consideration. 

In  the  days  of  Claudius  Ccesar,  arose  a  dearth  through- 
out Judea,  so  distressing  that  a  charitable  contribution  was 

26  Chapter  1. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  147 

made,  and  relief  sent  by  the  hands  of  Barnabas  and  Saul,  tG 
the  brethren  in  Judea,  residing  in  the  supposed  diocese  of 
this  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  To  whom  was  this  charity  sent  ? 
Not  to  the  bishop,  but  to  tlie  presbyters,  the  appropriate 
officers  of  that  church,  Acts  11:  30. 

A  delegation  was  sent  on  a  certain  occasion  from  Antioch 
to  Jerusalem  for  counsel.  They  were  received,  not  by  the 
bishop,  but  by  the  church,  the  apostles  and  the  presbyters. 
Acts  15:  4.  Not  a  syllable  is  said  of  the  bishop.  The 
council  convene  to  consider  the  question  which  has  been 
submitted  for  their  decision.  Who  compose  this  council? 
The  apostles  and  presbyters,  again,  without  any  mention  of 
the  bishop.  After  the  discussion,  in  which  James  with  the 
other  apostles,  naturally  bears  a  prominent  part,  who  act  in 
making  up  the  result?  The  apostles  and  presbyters.  It 
seemed  good  to  the  apostles  and  presbyters,  with  all  the 
church.  Who  appear  in  the  salutation  of  the  letter  address- 
ed to  the  church  at  Antioch  ?  The  apostles,  the  presbyters 
and  the  brethren.  Mention  is  again  made.  Acts  16:  4,  of 
the  decrees  of  this  council.  Who  now  appear  as  the  authors 
of  these  decrees  ?  The  apostles  and  presbyters.  Where 
is  our  diocesan  all  this  time  ?  Plainly  he  has  no  official 
character;  no  existence  in  this  church.  The  idea  of  a  dio- 
cesan bishop  over  this  community,  just  now  living  together 
in  the  simplicity  of  their  mutual  love,  is  an  idle  fancy, 
devoid  of  all  reality.  Had  James  been  bishop  of  Jeru- 
salem at  this  time,  he  would  have  acted  a  conspicuous 
part  in  all  these  concerns,  as  we  have  seen  that  the  presby- 
ters did.  His  high  office  would  have  given  him  a  place 
vastly  more  prominent  than  theirs  in  all  these  transactions; 
whereas  they,  with  the  apostles,  were  the  chief  actors,  as  the 
individuals  upon  whom  rested  the  government  of  the  church 
at  Jerusalem.27 

James  appears  to  have  chiefly  resided  at  this  city  for  good 

27  Rothe,  Anflmge,  I.  S.  267  seq. 


148 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


and  sufficient  reasons,  but  not  at  all  to  have  remained  there 
as  the  prelatical  head  of  that  church  or  diocese.  The  holy 
city  was  the  seat  of  the  Christian  religion ;  and,  to  the 
apostles,  the  centre  of  their  operations.  It  was  the  church 
to  which  all  referred,  as  did  the  church  at  Antioch,  as  they 
might  have  occasion,  for  counsel,  instruction  and  support. 
"What  more  natural  than  that  one  of  the  twelve  should  re- 
main, as  the  representative  of  the  college  of  the  apostles,  to 
give  direction  to  their  operations  and  their  councils  ?  And  for 
this  important  trust,  James,  one  of  the  kindred  of  our  Lord 
according  to  the  flesh,  from  his  youth  a  Nazarene,  intimately 
acquainted  with  all  the  national  peculiarities  and  prejudices 
of  the  Jews,  and  a  blameless  and  faithful  follower  of  Christ, 
was  eminently  qualified.  The  testimony  of  Hegesippus  is 
that  "  he  was  holy  from  his  mother's  womb,"  that  on  ac- 
count of  his  eminent  righteousness  he  was  styled  the  Just. 
He  represents  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  as  saying  to  him, 
"  We  all  put  our  confidence  in  thee ;  and  we,  and  all  the 
people,  bear  thee  witness  that  thou  art  just,  and  respectest 
not  the  person  of  any  man. "28  James  the  Just,  then,  re- 
mained at  Jerusalem,  as  the  delegate  of  the  college  of  the 
apostles,  and  the  honored  counsellor  and  adviser  of  the 
churches,  but  with  no  pretensions  to  diocesan  or  prelatical 
authority  over  them. 

As  a  Jew,  as  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  as  well  as  by  the 
amiable  characteristics  mentioned  above,  he  was  eminently 
qualified  to  serve  as  mediator  between  the  opposite  parties  of 
Jewish  and  Gentile  converts ;  and  to  counsel,  and  to  act  for 
the  peace  of  the  church.  But  in  all  this  he  acted,  not  as  a 
bishop,  but  as  an  apostle,  in  that  divine  character,  and  by 
that  authority,  which  he  possessed  as  an  apostle  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  which,  as  Neander  has  well  observed,  could 
be  delegated  to  none  other.29 

2«  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  2.  c.  23. 

2*^  Introduction,  p.  19.     Also,  Apost.  Kirch.  2.  c.  1.  p.  14  seq. 


EQUALITV^  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  149 

But  do  not  Clement  of  Alexandria,30  Hegesippus,3i  the 
Apostolical  Constitutions,32  Eusebius,33  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,34 
Epiphanius,35  Chrysostoin,^^  Jerome,^?  Augustine,38  and  many 
others  of  later  date,  all  agree  that  James  was  bishop  of  Jeru- 
salem ?  Grant  it  all.  We  admit  that  these  all  describe  him 
as  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  And  are  you  not  yet  satisfied  that 
James  was  bishop  of  this  parent  church  1  No,  by  no  means. 
Their  declaration  only  relates  to  a  disputed  point  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  upon  which  we,  perhaps, 
are  as  competent  to  decide  as  they.  With  the  same  histori- 
cal data  in  view,  why  cannot  a  judgment  be  made  upon  them 
as  safely  in  the  nineteenth  century  as  in  the  third  or  the  fifth  ? 
With  what  propriety  these  ancient  fathers  denominate  James 
bishop  of  Jerusalem,  let  the  reader  himself  judge  in  view  of 
the  foregoing  considerations. 

But  Hegesippus  lived  in  the  second  century,  within  one 
hundred  years  of  the  apostolic  age,  and  must  be  an  unexcep- 
tionable witness.  What  then  is  his  testimony  ?  Simply  that 
he  took  charge  of  the  church  in  connection  with  the  apostles, 
for  such  must  the  term  fj-srci  imply,  if  it  means  anything. 
This  use  of  this  preposition,  however,  is  not  common,  and 
the  authenticity  of  the  passage  is  doubtful,  diadtxsrai  ds — 
TTjv  ixxXt^Giav  fiera  tcov  aoTzazoXcov.  He  remained  chiefly 
at  Jerusalem,  the  centre  of  operations  for  all  of  the  apostles, 
and  had,  if  you  please,  the  immediate  supervision  of  this 

3"  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  2.  c.  1. 

31  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  2.  c.  23. 

32  Lib.  6.  Ep.  14.  p.  346. 

33  Lib.  2.  c.  1.  2.  c.  23.  3.  c.  5.  7.  c.  19.  Comment,  in  Hesai.  17:  5. 
Vol.  H.  p.  422.  Montfaucon,  Collec.  Nov,  Pat.  et  Scrip.  Graec.  ed. 
Paris,  1706. 

34  Catech.  4.  Ep.  28.  p.  65.  ed.  Touttee. 

3^  Haer.  78.     Antidicomarianitar.  §  5  p.  1039. 

36  Horn.  38,  in  Ep.  ad  Corinth,  Vol.  X.  p.  355. 

37  Catal.  Script.  Eccl.  s.  v.  Jacob,  frater  Domini,  Vol.  I.  p.  170. 
Comment,  in  Ep.  ad  Gal.  1:  19.  Vol.  IX.  p.  128. 

3«  Contra  literas  Petiliani,  L.  2.  c.  51.  §  118.  Vol.  IX.  p.  172. 
13* 


150  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

church  in  connection  with  the  other  apostles.  Aside  from 
the  Scriptures,  therefore,  nothing  appears  from  this  writer  to 
show  that  he  exercised  the  independent  authority  of  bishop 
over  the  church.  After  the  rise  of  the  hierarchy,  the  Epis- 
copal fathers  that  have  been  mentioned,  may  have  interpreted 
the  testimony  of  this  author  into  a  declaration  of  the  Epis- 
■copal  office  of  James.  If  so,  we  are  at  liberty  to  challenge 
the  authority  of  these  fathers  on  the  point  under  considera- 
tion. Like  them  we  have  the  historical  record  before  us, 
and  the  means  of  forming  an  independent  opinion.39 

Indeed,  antiquity  itself,  in  the  language  of  Milton,  "  hath 
turned  over  the  controversy  to  that  sovereign  book  which 
we  had  fondly  straggled  from."  After  refuting  other  tradi- 
tions, he  adds,  "  as  little  can  your  advantage  be  from  Hege- 
sippus,  an  historian,  of  the  same  time,  not  extant,  but  cited 
by  Eusebius.  His  words  are,  '  that  in  every  city  all  things 
so  stood  in  his  time  as  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  our 
Lord  did  preach.'  If  they  stood  so,  then  stood  not  bishops 
above  presbyters.  For  what  our  Lord  and  his  disciples 
taught,  God  be  thanked,  we  have  no  need  to  go  learn  of 
him."40 

The  churches,  as  we  have  already  seen,  were  at  this  time 
entirely  independent.  They  had  no  confederate  relations 
with  each  other.  Each  was  composed  of  any  number  of  be- 
lievers associated  together  by  common  consent,  for  the  en- 
joyment of  the  word  and  ordinances  of  their  common  Lord. 
Besides  their  union  of  faith  and  fellowship  of  spirit,  they 
had  one  bond  of  union  in  the  instruction,  care  and  oversight 
which  the  apostles  exercised  in  common  over  all  the  churches. 
This  general  supervision  the  apostles  exercised  conjointly, 
and  thus  formed  a  common  bond  of  connection  between 
the  different  fraternities ;  going  themselves,  from  place  to 
place,  confirming  the  churches,  and  reporting  to  each  the 

39  Rothe,  Anfange  der  Christ.  Kirch.  I.  263—272. 
*o  Prose  Works,  Vol.  1.  p.  86. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  151 

faith  and  piety  of  such  as  they  had  visited.  What  care  the 
apostle  Paul  took  to  encourage  this  fellowship  of  the  churches, 
is  manifested  in  the  salutations  which  he  sends  in  their  be- 
half. All  the  churches  in  Christ  salute  you,  Rom.  16:  16. 
The  churches  of  Asia  salute  you.  A II  the  brethren  greet  you, 
1  Cor.  16:  19,  20. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  churches  severally  refer- 
red to  the  apostles,  for  instruction,  for  counsel,  and  for  as- 
sistance, as  they  might  have  occasion.  This  oversight  the 
apostles  constantly  exercised ;  caring  for  all,  and  watching 
for  all,  as  they  had  opportunity,  that  thus  they  might,  as  far 
as  possible,  supply  the  place  of  their  Lord,  and  fulfil  the 
ministry  which  they  had  received  from  him.  In  the  distri- 
bution of  their  labors,  by  mutual  consent,  they  occupied, 
to  a  great  extent,  separate  fields.  Some  went  to  the  hea- 
then, and  others  to  the  circumcision.  Gal.  2:  7 — 9.  But 
none  had  any  prescribed  field  of  labor,  bearing  the  remotest 
analogy  to  a  modern  diocese.  Paul  was  greatly  oppressed 
by  the  care  of  all  the  churches,  which  came  daily  upon  him. 
Who  is  weak  and  I  am  not  weak?  Who  is  offended  and 
I  burn  not?  2  Cor.  11:  29.  So  that  while  each  may  have 
been  the  aposde  of  particular  churches,  each  and  every  one 
exercised  a  common  oversight  and  jurisdiction  over  all,  by 
whomsoever  they  might  have  been  originally  organized. 
Nor  was  this  jurisdiction  of  the  several  apostles  exercised  by 
them  on  their  own  individual  responsibility,  but  in  common 
rather,  as  fellow-apostles  and  co-workers,  for  the  building  up 
of  the  church  of  Christ,  and  the  extension  of  his  kingdom. 
In  a  word,  the  government  of  the  churches  was  vested  in  the 
apostles,  not  individually,  but  collectively ;  and  each  exercised 
his  authority  as  a  joint  member  of  the  apostolical  body,  who 
were  ordained  and  endowed  with  grace  to  be  witnesses  of 
the  gospel  of  our  Lord  in  every  place,  **  for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edification 


152  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

of  the  body  of  Christ."  Such  are  the  views  of  Rothe,^!  one 
of  the  latest  writers  on  this  subject,  who  has  set  forth  his 
sentiments  with  great  clearness,  and  supported  them  with 
unequalled  learning  and  ability.  Such  also  are  the  senti- 
ments of  Chrysostom,  an  ancient  and  learned  bishop.  "  The 
apostles  were  constituted  of  God  rulers,  not  over  a  separate 
nation  or  city,  but  all  were  entrusted  with  the  world."49 

(|5)  Timothy  at  Ephesus  was  not  a  bishop. 

Timothy  was  one  of  a  class  of  religious  teachers  who  act- 
ed as  the  assistants  and  fellow-laborers  of  the  apostle.  Their 
assistance  was  employed  as  a  necessary  expedient,  to  enable 
the  apostles  to  exercise  their  supervision  over  the  infant 
churches  which  sprang  up  in  the  different  and  distant  coun- 
tries through  which  Christianity  was  propagated.  Over 
churches,  widely  separated,  the  apostles  could  personally  ex- 
ercise but  little  supervision.  The  great  apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, had  been  instrumental  in  planting  many  churches  in 
distant  countries.  He  saw  the  necessity  of  employing  suit- 
able and  competent  men,  who  might  supply  his  lack  of  ser- 
vice to  those  churches  which  lay  beyond  the  range  of  his 
immediate  inspection.  They  were  neither  permanent  offi- 
cers in  the  church,  nor  restricted  to  any  specific  circuit,  but 
temporary  residents,  to  assist  in  setting  in  order  the  churches^ 
and  giving  needful  instructions,  as  the  occasion  might  re- 
quire, and  then  to  pass  away  to  any  other  station,  where  their 
services  might  be  required. 

Such  assistants  and  delegates  of  the  apostles  are  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  in  the  Scriptures.  And  this  view  of  their 
office  affords,  at  once,  a  natural  and  easy  explanation  of  the 
peculiar  and  somewhat  anomalous  rank  which  they  seem  to 
have  held.     Bishops  they  certainly  were  not,  in  the  Episco- 

41  Anfdnge,  Christ.  Kirch.  I.  S.  297—310. 

4^  ^Eiclv  vno  &SOV  ytiQOTovrjd'h'Teg  anooroXoi  aQyovraSj  ovx  h'd'vrj 
nal  iTolsig  Staifc^ovg  kufi^dvovzts,  aXXd  ndyrsg  xoivfj  ttjv  olxovfii~ 
vtjv  ifintorev&ivTai. — Cited  bij  Campbell,  Lectures,  p.  77. 


EQUALITY  OP  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  153 

copal  sense  of  that  term.43  Neither  were  they  merely  pres- 
byters ;  for,  though  in  many  respects  their  office  was  analo- 
gous to  that  of  presbyters,  in  others  it  was  widely  different. 
Such  was  Timothy,  whom  Paul  styles  his  fellow-laborer,  av- 
VEQyog.  Rom.  16:  21.  1  Thess.  3:  2.  In  the  salutations  of 
his  epistles,  also,  he  often  couples  the  name  of  Timothy  with 
his  own.  Phil.  1:  1.  I  Thess.  1:  1.  2  Thess.  1:  I,  etc.  Ac- 
cordingly, Timothy  appears  to  have  been  the  travelling  com- 
panion of  the  apostle. 

He  seems,  indeed,  at  different  times,  to  have  had  the  su- 
perintendence of  several  churches  in  various  places.  Comp. 
1  Cor.  4:  17.  1  Tim.  1:  3,  and  1  Thess.  3:  2,  from  which  it 
appears  that  he  was  sent  to  Corinth,  to  Ephesus,  and  to  Thes- 
salonica,  as  a  fellow-laborer  and  assistant  of  the  apostle. 
From  what  is  said  of  his  influence  at  Corinth,  it  would 
seem  that  he  might,  with  almost  equal  propriety,  be  styled 
the  bishop  of  that  city  as  of  Ephesus.  In  the  first  epistle, 
he  is  reputed  to  have  been  sent  to  them,  as  the  representative 
of  the  apostle,  to  bring  them  into  remembrance  of  his  ways 
and  doctrines ;  and,  in  the  second,  he  unites  with  Paul  as  his 
brother  in  the  salutation  of  that  church.  The  whole  history 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  indeed  the  language  of  the 
epistles  proves  that,  like  the  other  fellow-travellers  of  St. 
Paul,  Timothy  had  no  settled  abode,  no  fixed  station ;  but 
assisted  him,  as  an  evangelist,  in  setting  the  churches  in  or- 
der, and  in  the  accomplishment  of  any  special  object  which 
the  apostle  had  in  view,  and  to  which  he  could  not  personally 
attend.  The  apostle,  often  coupling  the  name  of  Timothy 
with  his  own,  presents  him  to  us  as  his  companion  and  assis- 
tant. This  itinerating  life  of  Timothy  sufficiently  proves 
that  he  was  not  the  bishop  of  Ephesus.  When  both  the 
epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  were  written,  A.  D.  62,  Timo- 
thy was  with  Paul  at  Corinth,  having  lately  returned  from 

*^  Bishop  Onderdonk  only  claims  this  distinction  for  Timothy,  and 
many  others  of  that  communion  give  up  this  point . 


154  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Thessalonica,  where  he  had  spent  some  time  in  ministering 
to  that  church. 

When  Paul  wrote  the  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  A.  D. 
57,  from  Ephesus,  Timothy  was  absent  again,  on  a  mis- 
sion to  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  from  whence  he  was  expected 
soon  to  return.  1  Cor.  16:  10.  Titus  also  went  about  this 
time  on  a  mission  to  Corinth. 

The  year  following,  when  Paul  wrote  his  second  epistle 
from  Macedonia,  Timothy  was  with  him  there,  and  Titus, 
whom  Paul  had  met  in  Macedonia,  was  again  one  of  the 
messengers  by  whom  the  letter  was  forwarded  to  the  church. 

Some  months  later,  A.  D.  58,  when  he  wrote  his  epistle  to 
the  Romans  from  Corinth,  Timothy  was  with  him  there. 

The  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  was  written  from  Rome, 
A.  D.  61,  subsequently  to  the  time  when  Timothy  is  alleged 
to  have  been  made  bishop  of  Ephesus ;  yet  he  is  not  named 
in  it,  nor  is  there  any  allusion  in  it  to  any  head  of  the  church 
there.  The  address  is  only  to  "  the  saints  and  faithful  breth- 
ren." Indeed,  it  is  certain,  from  the  epistles  to  the  Colos- 
sians  and  to  Philemon,  written  about  the  same  time  from 
Rome,  that  Timothy  was,  at  this  time,  in  that  city ;  so  that 
he  could  scarcely  have  been  in  his  supposed  diocese  at  all. 

"  The  expression  in  1  Tim.  1:  3,  '  As  I  besought  thee  to 
abide  still  at  Ephesus  when  I  went  into  Macedonia,'  seems 
to  mark  but  a  temporary  purpose,  and  to  bear  little  simili- 
tude to  a  settled  appointment  and  establishment  of  him  as 
head  of  the  church  there,  i.  e.  bishop,  in  the  modern  accept- 
ation of  the  term,  resembling  rather  his  previous  mission  to 
Thessalonica.  referred  to  in  the  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians 
(3:  2) ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  undoubted  fact,  that 
when  the  second  epistle  to  him  was  written,  not  only  was 
Timothy  not  in  his  supposed  diocese  at  Ephesus,  but  the  apos- 
tle tells  him  that  he  had  sent  Tychicus  there,  who  is  spoken  of 
by  the  apostle  as  being  in  like  manner  a  fellow-servant,  beloved 
brother,  and  fellow  minister  of  the  Lord  (Ephes.  6:  21),  as 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  155 

Timothy  himself  was.  This  we  know  to  have  been  shortly 
before  the  death  of  the  apostle."44  The  absurdity  of  sup- 
posing that  this  request  was  made  to  Timothy  as  bishop,  is 
forcibly  presented  by  Daille.  "  Why  beseech  a  bishop  to  re- 
main in  his  diocese  1  Is  it  not  to  beseech  a  man  to  stay  in 
a  place  to  which  he  is  bound  ?  I  should  not  think  it  strange 
to  beseech  him  to  leave  it,  if  his  services  were  needed  else- 
where. But  to  beseech  him  to  abide  in  a  place  where  his 
charge  obliges  him  to  be,  and  which  he  cannot  forsake  with- 
out offending  God  and  neglecting  his  duty,  is,  to  say  the 
truth,  not  a  very  civil  entreaty;  as  it  plainly  pre-supposes 
that  he  has  not  his  duty  much  at  heart,  seeing  one  is  under 
the  necessity  of  beseeching  him  to  do  it."'*^ 

By  the  imposition  of  hands  he  was  endowed  with  peculiar 
gifts,  which  qualified  him  to  serve  the  churches  as  a  fellow- 
laborer  with  the  apostle,  who  accordingly  charges  him  not  to 
neglect  this  gift.^e 

But  what  need  of  many  words  on  this  subject?  The 
apostle,  just  before  his  death,  and  long  after  he  is  suoposed 
to  have  constituted  Timothy  bishop  at  Ephesus,  gives  him  his 
true  designation, — an  Evangelist,  "  Do  the  work,"  not  of 
bishop,  but  "  of  an  evangelist."  The  work  which  he  was 
exhorted  to  do  was  simply  that  of  a  "person  who,  being  at- 
tached to  no  particular  church,  was  sent  by  the  apostle  as 
was  necessary,  either  for  the  purpose  of  founding  new  church- 
es, or  of  confirming  those  which  were  already  established. "47 

^'*  Bowdler's  Letters  on  Apost.  Succession,  pp.  25,  26. 

'»•''  Daille,  ci-dessus^  p.  23.  Cited  in  Mason's  Works,  Vol.  III.  p. 
197. 

'*^  Comp.  Neander,  Apost.  Kirch.  1.  c.  10.  Rothe,  Anfrmge,  f. 
S.  160,  161,  and  263;  also,  J,  H.  Bohmer,  Diss.  Jur.  Eccl.  Antiq. 
p.  424  seq.,  where  is  given  an  able  discussion  of  the  points  under 
consideration,  in  relation  to  Timothy,  Titus,  and  the  anrfel  of  the 
churches.  Barnes's  Apost.  Church,  pp.  99—107,  and  Smyth's  Pres- 
bytery and  Prelacy,  chap.  12.  §  3. 

^7  Beausobre,  quoted  by  Mant  and  d'Ogly,  on  Acts  21:  8. 


15S  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

(y)  Titus  was  not  bishop  of  Crete. 

Like  Timothy,  Titus  was  an  evangelist.  He  received 
similar  instructions  and  performed  similar  labors.  Like 
Timothy,  he  also  travelled  too  much  to  be  regarded  as  having 
been  a  stationary  prelate.  From  Syria  we  trace  him  to  Je- 
rusalem ;  thence  to  Corinth ;  thence  to  Macedonia ;  back 
again  to  Corinth;  thence  to  Crete;  thence  to  Dalmatia;  and 
whether  he  ever  returned  to  Crete  is  wholly  uncertain.  He 
was  left  at  Crete,  therefore,  not  as  bishop  of  that  diocese, 
but  as  an  assistant  of  the  apostle,  to  establish  the  churches, 
and  to  continue  the  work  which  the  apostle  had  begun. 
*'  After  Paul  had  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  church 
in  Crete,"  says  Neander,  "  he  left  Titus  behind,  to  complete 
the  organization  of  the  churches,  to  confirm  the  new  con- 
verts in  purity  of  doctrine,  and  to  counterwork  the  influence 
of  the  false  teachers."48 

From  all  this  there  appears  to  be  no  scriptural  foundation 
for  considering  Timothy  to  have  been  established  as  bishop 
of  Ephesus,  or  Titus  as  bishop  of  Crete.  Dr.  Whitby,  him- 
self a  zealous  advocate  of  Episcopacy,  assures  us  that  he 
could  find  nothing  in  any  writer  of  the  first  three  centuries 
concerning  the  Episcopate  of  Timothy  and  Titus ;  nor  any 
intimation  that  they  bore  the  name  of  bishops.  "  Certain  it 
is,"  says  Campbell,  also,  "that  in  the  first  three  centuries, 
neither  Timothy  nor  Titus  is  styled  bishop  by  any  writer." 
Titus  journeyed  much  with  Paul,  and  was  left  in  Crete,  like 
Timothy  at  Ephesus,  to  render  in  behalf  of  the  apostles,  a 
a  similar  service  to  the  churches  on  that  island. 

Of  the  same  general  character,  also,  was  Silvanus,  1 
Thess.  1:  1.  2  Thess.  1:  1.  Comp.  1  Pet.  5:  12;  and  Mark, 
Col.  4:  10.  1  Pet.  5:  13;  and  Clemens,  Phil.  4:  3,  and  seve- 
ral others.  Silas  is  first  the  companion  of  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas in  Asia  Minor  ;  then  of  Paul,  in  his  second  missionary 
tour  through  Asia  Minor,  Macedonia,  and  Achaia;  and,  at  a 

«  Apost.  Kirch.  Vol.  I.  p.  405. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  157 

later  period,  of  Peter  in  the  Parthian  empire.  Mark,  too,  was 
first  the  companion  of  Paul  and  Barnabas ;  then,  after  their 
separation,  of  Barnabas  in  Cyprus;  and  afterwards  of  Peter 
in  the  Parthian  empire,  from  whence,  also,  they  journeyed  ia 
company  to  Rome. 

No  one  of  the  apostles,  therefore,  nor  Timothy,  nor  Titus-, 
nor  any  of  the  evangelists,  acted  in  the  capacity  of  bishop  of 
any  church  or  diocese.  In  neither  has  this  higher  order  any 
representation ;  from  the  office  of  neither  can  any  argument 
be  derived  in  support  of  the  prelatical  doctrine  of  Episcopal' 
supremacy  and  apostolical  succession. 49 

(d)  The  angel  of  the  church  in  the  apocalyptic  epistles: 
was  not  a  bishop. 

On  this  subject,  we  shall  present  the  reader  with  the  expo- 
sition of  several  distinguished  scholars,  and  submit  it  to  him, 
whether  this  phraseology  supports  the  prelatical  claims  of 
Episcopacy.  The  views  of  Neander  are  briefly  given  in  his 
Introduction.^^ 

By  the  kindness  of  Prof  Stuart,  we  here  offer  the  follow- 
ing exposition  from  his  unpublished  commentary  on  The  Rev- 
elation : 

"  The  seven  angels  have  given  occasion  to  much  specula- 
tion and  diversity  of  opinion.  Are  they  teachers^  bishops, 
overseers  1  or  is  some  other  office  designated  by  the  word 
ayyelog,  angel,  here? 

1.  "  Old  Testament  usage  ;  viz.  the  later  Hebrew  employs 
the  word  'r^i!ibi2=^ayy8Xog,  to  designate  a  prophet.  Hag.  1: 
13,  also  a  priest.  Mai.  2:  7,  and  Eccl.  5:  6.  As  priests, 
in  the  appropriate  sense  of  the  word,  did  not  exist  in  the 
Christian  churches  (for  they  had  no  Mosaic  ritual  of  sacri- 
fices and  oblations),  so  we  must  compare  ayyelog  here  with 
l^'r'?'  prophet,  in  Hag.  1:  13.  riQocp^rai,  prophets,  there 
were  in  the  Christian  church.     See  1  Cor.  12:  28.  Acts  13: 

*9  Comp.  Rolhe,  Anftnge,  I.  S.  305  seq.  ^  Page  21» 

14 


158  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

1.  1  Cor.  14:  29,  32,  37.  Eph.  2:  20.  3:  5.  4:  11.  Taken 
in  this  sense,  the  word  designates  here  the  leading  teacher  in 
the  Asiatic  churches.  The  nature  of  the  case  would  seem 
to  indicate  a  leader  here,  else  why  should  he  be  especially 
addressed  as  the  representative  of  the  whole  body  in  each  of 
the  Christian  churches'?     But, 

2.  "  Another  exposition  has  been  given.  Vitringa^i  has 
compared  the  ayyelog  of  the  apocalypse  with  the  *i^Sa  H'^bd 
of  the  Jewish  synagogues,  which  means  legatus  ecclesiae 
[the  representative  or  delegate  of  the  church^,  and  compares 
well  with  ajytXog  exxXrjaiag  [angel  of  the  church^,  as  to  the 
form  of  the  phrase.  The  office  of  the  individual  thus  named 
was  to  superintend  and  conduct  the  worship  of  the  syna- 
gogue ;  i.  e.  he  recited  prayers,  and  read  the  Scriptures,  or 
invited  others  to  perform  these  duties;  he  called  on  the 
priests  to  pronounce  the  final  benediction,  in  case  he  him- 
self was  not  a  priest;  he  proclaimed  the  sacred  feasts,  and, 
in  a  word,  he  superintended  the  whole  concerns  of  reli- 
gious worship,  and  evidently  took  the  lead  in  them  himself. 
He  was  a  TtQOsatcog,  or  an  ima^ionog  [a  superintendent  or 
overseer^,  and  also  a  didd(7xaXog,  teacher,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree.  Comp.  John  3:  10.  The  best  account  of  his  office 
is  in  Schoettgen,  Horae  Heb.  p.  10S9  seq.,  who  has  pointed 
out  some  errors  and  deficiencies  of  Vitringa.  The  nature 
of  the  case  shows  that  the  superior  officer  is,  in  this  instance, 
and  should  be,  addressed.  He  is  probably  called  the  angel 
of  the  church,  in  conformity  to  the  Hebrew  Chaldee  h'^b/li 
msi  (possibly  in  reference  to  Hag.  1:  13,  or  Mai.  2:  7),  and 
may  be  called  legatus  ecclesiae,  because  he  is  delegatus  ah 
ecclesia  [delegated  by  the  church],  in  order  that  he  may 
render  their  public  devotions  to  God,  and  superintend  their 
social  worship.     Exactly  the  limits  of  the  office  and   its  spe- 

"  De  Vet.  Synagoga.  p.  910  seq.  As  an  interpretation  of  the  He- 
brew phrase,  n^isis  H.'^V'?'"'  ^^^  English  reader  may  read,  as  often  as  it 
occurs,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  159 

cific  duties  neither  the  word,  ayyEkoq^  explains,  nor  does 
the  context  give  us  any  particular  information." 

The  learned  Origen  affirms,  that  the  angels  of  the  churches 
were  the  TTQoeaTwzeg,  the  presiding  presbyters,  the  same  of 
whom  Justin,  Tertullian,  and  Clemens  Alexandrinus  speak, 
in  the  extracts  which  are  given  below,  in  their  order.52 

The  exposition  given  below  is  from  the  learned  Dr.  De- 
litzsch,  of  Leipsic,  the  associate  of  Dr.  Ftirst,  in  preparing 
his  Hebrew  Concordance.  The  writer  is  himself  a  man  of 
profound  erudition  in  all  that  relates  to  Hebrew  and  Rab- 
binical literature,  and  has  furnished  the  article  for  us  at  our 
particular  request. 

"  The  ayyaloi  TTJg  ixxlj^aiag,  angels  of  the  churches,  are 
the  bishops;  or,  what  in  my  opinion  is  the  same  in  the 
apostolical  churches,  the  presbyters  of  the  churches.  The 
expression,  like  many  others  in  the  New  Testament,  is  de- 
rived from  the  synagogue,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the 
parent  source  of  the  Christian  church,  having  remained  es- 
sentially unchanged  for  a  long  time  after  the  overthrow  of 
the  temple  service.  The  office  of  the  n=is:£  lj''V>P  corre- 
sponds entirely  with  that  of  bishop  or  presbyter  of  the  apos- 
tolical churches. 

I.  "  The  n=i3i^  n*^:;^  bears  this"  name  as  the  delegatus 
ecclesiae,  the  delegate  of  the  church,  who  was  elected  by 
them  to  exercise  and  enjoy  the  privileges  and  prerogatives 
of  a  presiding  officer  in  their  assemblies.  It  was  his  duty 
to  pray  in  the  name  of  the  assembly,  to  lead  in  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures,  to  blow  the  trumpet,  the  "noi^',  on  the 
opening  of  a  new  year ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  those  who 
belonged  to  the  priesthood,  the  D"'3rib,  to  pronounce  the 
Aaronitic  benediction.  So  far  as  the  performance  of  this 
rite  is  concerned,  the  priests  themselves  are  the  i^ai:  '^h'^'riJ. 

^^  ITQ06aTo)Tas  rivdg  rwv  sxtcXtjoimv  nyyiXov?  Xiyead'ai  naQd  rw  */w- 
dvvrj  tv  rfi  aTtoyiaXi'uphi. — De  Oral.  §  34. 


160  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

The  original  passages  are  given  by  Schoettgen.^s  So  high 
and  important  was  the  office  of  this  mzx:  n'^rw",  and  so 
nearly  did  it  correspond  with  that  of  bisliop  or  presbyter,  that 
the  name  of  the  former  might  be  applied  to  the  latter. 

"The  signification  of  the  term  may  also  be  learned  from 
the  Aramaean  term,  the  ^{3^"lp.■  This  officer  of  the  syna- 
gogue, the  -|^2'^  h"'V^>  ^^"^^  regarded  as  bringing  before 
God  the  prayers  of  the  people,  which  were  considered  as 
their  spiritual  offerings.  It  appears  from  the  Jerusalem 
Talmud,  that  when  one  was  invited  to  ascend  the  pulpit  to 
offer  public  prayers,  the  language  of  the  invitation  was  not 
*  Come  and  pray,'  but '  Come  hither,  and  present  our  offer- 
ing,' ^2''::2-\p^  n^a3>.s4 

"  The  ofiice  of  the  n=l2!i  h'^V'P  ^^^  "^^'  indeed,  include 
the  duty  of  a  public  teacher  ;  for  the  office  of  public  preach- 
ing was  not  established  as  a  permanent  institution,  but  had 
its  origin  within  the  period  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 

"  I  have  thus  shown  that  the  appellation,  angd  of  the 
church,  was  used  to  designate  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
Christian  church,  with  particular  reference  to  the  i^ia^I  h'^^p, 
of  the  synagogue.  Still,  as  a  name  of  an  office,  the  angel 
of  the  church  may  have  a  meaning  somewhat  higher.  Such 
a  meaning  it  may  have,  with  reference,  retrospectively,  to 
the  nin"*.  ^wXrT^  of  the  Old  Testament.55  So  that  the 
angel  of  the  church  may,  at  the  same  time,  denote  the  bish- 
op or  presbyter  chosen  by  this  Christian  community,  to  be 
the  messenger,  or  servant,  both  of  God  and  of  the  church. 
This  call  of  the  church  is  itself  a  vocatio  divina,  a  divine 
calling ;  and,  according  to  the  New  Testament  view  of  the 
subject,  unites  the  idea  of  both  offices  in  the  same  person." 

Bengel,  also,  the  most  learned  expositor  of  the  book  of 

***  Horae  Hebraicae  etTalmudicae  ad  Apoc.  1.  p.  1089  seq. 
^*  Berachot,  c.  4.  f.  206.      Comp.  Zunz,   Die  gottesdienstlichen 
Vortrage  dor  Juden. 

55  Comp.  Malachi  2:  7,  and  Haggai  1:  13. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  161 

Revelation,  is  of  opinion,  that  the  angel  of  the  church  cor- 
responds to  the  ^512:£  ^■'^^j  of  the  synagogue.  **The  He- 
brews had,  in  their  synagogue,  a  'inziZ  "^"^'.V  ^  deputatum  cc- 
clesiae,  who,  in  reading,  in  prayer,  etc.,  led  the  congregation; 
and  such  a  leader,  also,  had  each  of  the  seven  churches  of 
the  Apocalypse."^ 

The  result  is,  that  the  angel  of  the  churches,  whatever 
view  we  take  of  the  origin  of  the  term,  was  not  the  repre- 
sentative of  an  order  or  grade  superior  to  presbyters,  but  was 
himself  merely  a  presbyter ;  or,  if  you  please,  a  bishop, — ■ 
provided  you  mean  by  it  simply  what  the  Scriptures  always 
mean, — the  pastor  of  a  church,  the  ordinary  and  only  minis- 
ter. The  New  Testament  never  recognizes  more  than  one 
church  in  a  city.  This  fact  of  itself  precludes  the  supposition 
that  the  angel  of  the  church  could  have  been  a  diocesan 
having  in  the  same  city  several  churches  under  his  authority. 

II.  It  remains  to  consider  the  historical  argument  for  the 
original  equality  and  identity  of  bishops  and  presbyters. 

This  equality  and  identity  was  fully  recognized  in  the  ear- 
ly church,  and  continued  to  be  acknowledged  as  an  historical 
fact,  even  after  the  establishment  of  the  hierarchy,  down  to 
the  time  of  the  Reformation.  The  historical  argument  com- 
prised in  this  proposition  may  be  resolved  into  several  par- 
ticulars, each  of  which  serves  to  show  that  both  the  early 
fathers  and  later  historians  regarded  presbyters  and  i)ishops 
as  belonging  originally  to  the  same  grade  or  order  of  the 
clergy,  and  as  being  equal  in  their  rights  and  privileges. 

1.  Presbyters  are  designated  by  names  and  titles  similar 
to  those  of  bishops. 

5«  EikJarte  OfFenbarung,  S.  216.  For  a  further  illustration  of 
the  opinions  of  the  learned,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Campbell's  Lec- 
tures on  Eccl.  Hist.  pp.  82—88.  Whately,  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp. 
246-250. 

14* 


162  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

2.  Presbyters,  like  bishops,  are  carefully  distinguished 
from  the  deacons,  the  second  order  of  the  clergy ;  and  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  both  presbyters  and  bishops 
are  indiscriminately  and  equally  the  representatives  of  the 
first  order. 

3.  Presbyters  were  understood  to  possess  the  right  to  or- 
dain ;  and,  generally,  to  perform  all  the  functions  of  the 
Episcopal  office. 

4.  Bishops,  themselves,  in  their  ministerial  character,  ex- 
ercised only  the  jurisdiction,  and  performed  merely  the  offi- 
ces, of  presbyters  in  the  primitive  churches. 

5.  The  original  equality  of  bishops  and  presbyters  contin- 
ued to  be  acknowledged,  from  the  rise  of  the  Episcopal  hie- 
rarchy down  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 

1.  Presbyters  are  designated  in  the  writings  of  the  early 
fathers  by  names  and  titles  similar  to  those  of  bishops. 

When  from  the  Scriptures  we  turn  to  the  writings  of  these 
fathers,  it  is  observable  that  they  speak  sometimes  of  bishops 
and  sometimes  of  presbyters  as  the  presiding  officers  of  the 
church,  and  then  again  of  both  indiscriminately,  as  being 
one  and  the  same  in  rank.  To  both  they  ascribe  the  same 
or  similar  names  and  titles,  such  as  seniors,  elders,  chair- 
men, moderators,  presidents,  etc.,  all  indicating  identity  of 
office,  and  equality  in  rank.  Even  when  the  first  place  is 
assigned  to  the  bishop,  he  is  only  chief  among  equals,  just 
as  in  a  modern  presbytery  or  association,  one  is  promoted  to 
the  office  of  moderator,  to  which  all  are  alike  eligible.^? 

2.  Presbyters,  like  bishops,  are  carefully  distinguished 
from  the  deacons,  the  second  order  of  the  clergy  and  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  show  that  both  presbyters  and  bishops  are 
indiscriminately  and  equally  the  representatives  of  the  first 
order. 

"  We  have  brought  together  in  parallel  columns  some  of  the 
names  and  titles  which  are  ascribed  to  bishops  and  presbyters  sever- 


EQUALITY  OP  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  163 

Several  of  the  earliest  fathers  distinctly  recognize  but  two 
orders  of  the  priesthood.  Those  of  the  first  order  are  some- 
times denominated  presbyters,  sometimes  bishops,  and  then 
again  bishops  and  presbyters  indiscriminately.  It  is  worthy 
of  particular  notice,  that  while  bishops  and  presbyters  are 
confounded  one  with  another,  they  are  uniformly  distinguish- 
ed from  the  deacons,  the  second  order  of  the  priesthood. 
Whatever  be  the  title  by  which  the  clergy  of  the  first  order 

ally.     The  intelligent   reader  will  readily  perceive  the  similarity  of 
the  titles  given  to  both,  and  the  identity  of  their  significations. 

TITLES    OF    BISHOPS.  TITLES    OF    PRESBYTERS. 

'ETTiaxoTToif  Tr^sa^vTsgot,  ttqo-  'EmatcoTtoi*  7rQ£G^vT£Q0i,i  nqo- 
sSgoii  TT^oiardftevoij  I'ipoQOv  (iq-  £Sqoc,+  7TqotGT(aTegj\  nqogrdTai  \\ 
XOVTsg  ixxXTjaiwv,  Trgoeoxonag. 

Praesides,    praepositi;    praesi-         Praepositi,   antistites,    majores 
dentes,  superattendentes,  superin-     natu,    seniores,    seniores   plebis, 
tendentes,  pastores,  patres  eccle-     sacerdotes,  etc. 
siae,  vicarii,  praesules,  antistites, 
antistites  sacrorum,  seniores,  etc. 

These  and  several  other  titles  are  given  in  the  author's  Antiquities, 
pp.  70,  94;  in  Riddle,  Christ.  Antiq.  pp.  161,  229;  in  Baumgarten, 
Erlauterungen,  S.  75,  94  ;  and  in  Rheinwald,  S.  30,  45.  Obvious- 
ly the  titles  of  both  are  synonymous,  and  are  applied  ijodiscriminately 
to  both  bishops  and  presbyters,  to  denote  one  and  the  same  office. 
Riddle,  Christ.  Antiq.  p.  230.  Blondell  justly  remarks,  that  "  the 
use  of  such  terms  creates  no  difficulty,  and  for  the  reason  that,  even 
after  a  distinction  was  made  between  bishops  and  presbyters  in  the 
second  century  by  the  decision  of  the  churches,  both  continued  to  be 
distinguished  indiscriminately  by  the  same  appellation." — Apologia 
pro  Hieron.  p.  92. 

Riddle  also  allows  "  that  the  terms,  ima>co7Tog  and  TTQSG^vTSQog^  in 
the  New  Testament  are  synonymous,  and  denote  one  and  the  same 
office;"  and  cites  several  passages,  to  some  of  which  reference  is 
made  above. 

*  Chrysost.  Horn.  1.  in  Phil.  I.  p.  8.    Horn.  2.  in  1  Tim.  3.     Theodoret,  in  PhiJ. 
1:  1,    2:  25.    Jerome,  ad  Tit.  1.  and  Ep.  83,  85. 
t  Greg.  Naz.  Oral.  I.    Basil,  Reg.  Morali,  71. 
t  Synesius  Ep.  12. 

^  Greg.  Naz.  Oral.  I.     Basil,  M.  Regula  Morali. 
II  Cbrysost.  Hem.  11,  iq  1  Tim.  4.    Comp.  Rom.  12:  8, 


164  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

are  called,  we  are  in  no  danger  of  mistaking  them  for  the 
second. 

Clement  of  Rome,  who  wrote  about  A.  D.  96,  is  our 
first  authority.  His  epistle  addressed  to  the  Corinthians,  is 
the  earliest  and  most  authentic  of  all  the  writings  of  the 
apostolical  fathers.  It  was  held  in  such  esteem  by  the  early 
Christians,  that  it  was  publicly  read  in  their  religious  assem- 
blies, in  the  same  manner  as  the  apostolical  epistles.^  And, 
by  ecclesiastical  writers  generally,  nothing  that  is  not  divine 
is  admitted  to  be  of  higher  authority.  This  revered  father 
recognizes  but  two  orders  of  the  priesthood,  bishops  and 
deacons,  iTTiaxoTiovg  xal  dianovovg.  He  gives  not  the  least 
intimation  of  the  existence  of  an  individual  diocesan  bishop 
at  Corinth ;  but  uniformly  speaks  of  the  presbyters  of  that 
church,  whom  the  Corinthians  had  rejected,  as  belonging  to 
the  highest  order.  "The  apostles  preaching  in  countries 
and  cities,  appointed  the  first  fruits  of  their  labors  to  be 
bishops  and  deacons,  having  proved  them  by  the  Spirit."^^ 
These  are  the  two  orders  of  the  ministry,  as  originally  ap- 
pointed by  the  apostles.  "  It  were  a  grievous  sin,"  he  pro- 
ceeds to  say,  "  to  reject  those  who  have  faithfully  fulfilled 
the  duties  of  their  Episcopal  office,^'  and  immediately  adds, 
"  blessed  are  those  presbyters,  who  have  finished  their  course 
and  entered  upon  their  reward,"60  (  ^^  blessed  are  those 
presbyters  who  have  thus  faithfully  performed  the  duties  of 
their  Episcopal  ojice  ;  bishops  and  presbyters  being  used  in- 
terchangeably as  equally  descriptive  of  the  same  order. 
This  passage  establishes  the  identity  of  bishops  and  presby- 

S3  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  3.  c.  13. 

^^  Kara  xo'tQag  oZv  xal  TioXsig  nr^Qvaaovrsg  na&iarapov  rdg  anagxag 
avTMVj  Som/udaavTsg  toj  nvsvfiaTij  eig  irriGxcTrovg  xal  diaxwovg  T<av 
/isXlovTOJV  niarsvsiv. —  Epist.  ad  Cor.  §  42.  p.  57. 

®°  "^Afjiaqria  yd^  ov  fiinQa  ^ifitv  I'ataij  tdv  rovg  dfilfiTtxoig  «ai  oamg 
•jroootrtyyiovTag  rd  So)Qa  rijg  eTttaxoTtijg  aTio^aXoifJuv.  Maxd~ 
QiOL  01  TT^oodotTTOQTJoavTsg  TtQSO^i'Ta^ot^  o'lTivsg  lyxaQTiov  nai 
xa)<£iav  eoxop  rrv  avdlvaiv. — Epist.  ad  Cor.  §  44.  p.  58. 


EQUALIT\r  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  165 

ters  in  the  opinion  of  this  venerable  author,  who  may  be  un- 
derstood to  express  the  prevailing  opinion  both  at  Rome  and 
at  Corinth.  The  epistle  proceeds  on  the  evident  assumption, 
that  both  held  the  same  ministerial  office,  and  sustained  the 
same  relations  to  the  people.  He  is  remonstrating  with  the 
Corinthians  for  expelling  certain  presbyters  from  their  hish- 
opricy  0,710  rrjg  mKjy.onijg.  "  Clement  himself,"  says  Riddle, 
"  was  not  even  aware  of  the  distinction  between  bishops  and 
presbyters — terms  which  in  fact  he  uses  as  synonymous."6i 

Polycarp  is  our  next  witness.  This  father  was  familiar 
with  those  who  had  seen  our  Lord.  He  was  the  disciple  of 
John  the  apostle,  and  is  supposed  by  many  to  be  the  angel 
of  the  church  at  Smyrna,  in  Rev.  2:  8.  Such  was  the  re- 
spect in  which  his  epistle  was  held  by  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, that  it  was  publicly  read  in  their  churches  until  the 
fourth  century.  This  valuable  relic  of  antiquity,  the  date  of 
which  is  usually  assigned  to  the  year  140,  harmonizes  in  a 
remarkable  degree  with  that  of  Clement,  in  recognizing  but 
two  orders  of  the  clergy .62  The  first  it  denominates  yreshy- 
ters.  Bishops  are  not  once  named  in  all  the  epistle.  These 
presbyters  are  represented  as  the  inspectors  and  rulers  of 
the  church,  having  authority  to  administer  its  discipline,  and 
to  exercise  all  the  functions  of  its  highest  officers.  Nor  is 
there  the  least  intimation  that  any  one  has  authority  superior 
to  theirs. 

As  the  author  of  the  epistle,  and  apparently  the  presiding 
elder,  the  7iQomt(og  of  the  church,  Polycarp  opens  the  letter 
with  the  usual  Christian  salutation  to  the  church  whom  head- 
dresses, coupled  with  that  of  his  fellow-presbyters.  "  Poly- 
carp and  the  presbyters  with  him,  to  the  church  of  God 
dwelling  at  Philippi,  mercy  to  you,  and  peace  be  multiplied 

«i  Christ.  Antiq.  p.  5.  Comp.  Waddington's  Church  Hist.,  p.  35. 
Campbell's  Lectures,  p.  T'Z. 

^'^  J  id  Sdov  air^xsad-at  ano  ndvtojv  tovtojv  vTCoraoaofiivovg  roig 
TTQsa^vriQOts  aai  Staxovots  oig  &e<J^  Ttai  Xqigtm, — M.  Phil.  c.  6. 


166  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

from  God  Almighty,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour." 
Paul  in  his  salutation  addressess  the  bishops  and  deacons  of 
this  church.  Polycarp  in  his,  speaks  only  of  presbyters  and 
deacons.  If  there  were  three  orders  of  clergy  at  Philippi, 
the  omission  of  one  by  the  apostle,  and  another  by  this  apos- 
tolical father  is  unaccountable.  The  advice  of  Polycarp  to 
the  church  "  to  be  subject  to  the  presbyters  and  deacons" 
becomes  particularly  irrelevant  and  improper,  on  the  suppo- 
sition, that  the  government  of  the  church  was  vested  in  a 
bishop.  The  conclusion,  therefore,  is  inevitable,  that  bishop 
and  presbyter  were  still  used  interchangeably ;  and  that  both 
Paul  and  Polycarp  speak  of  the  same  class  of  officers. 
Clement  and  Polycarp  were  contemporaries  and  survivors 
of  the  apostles.  They  resided,  the  one  at  Rome  ;  the  other, 
in  Asia  Minor.  They  represent  distinct  portions  of  the 
Christian  church,  remote  from  each  other,  and  widely  dif- 
ferent in  language,  in  government,  and  in  national  peculiari- 
ties. The  ecclesiastical  polity  of  these  four  churches  may 
fairly  be  assumed  as  an  example  of  the  usage  of  others  at 
this  time.  So  far  as  we  can  ascertain  from  the  writings  of 
these  fathers,  no  office  existed  in  the  churches  either  of 
Rome,  Corinth,  Smyrna,  or  Philippi,  superior  to  that  of 
presbyter ;  nor  is  there  any  indication  of  diversity  of  order, 
degree,  ordination,  or  power,  between  the  several  presbyters 
or  bishops  of  those  churches ;  save  that  of  senior  or  mod- 
erator, the  TiQoeazcog  of  their  body. 

It  is  also  particularly  noticeable,  that  Polycarp  specifies 
the  qualifications  necessary  both  for  deacons,^^  and  for  pres- 
byters ;64  and,  like  Paul,  the  apostle,  on  a  similar  occasion, 
Tit.  1:  5 — ^9,  makes  no  mention  of  what  is  proper  in  the 
conduct  and  character  of  a  bishop. 

Justin  Martyr,  the  Christian  philosopher,  who  suffered 
martyrdom  A.  D.  165,  two  years  before  the  death  of  Poly- 
carp, offers  further  confirmation  of  these  views  of  the  sub- 

63  Ep.  c.  5.  64  Ep.  c.  6. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  167 

ject.  A  native  of  Samaria  in  Palestine  and  converted  to 
Christianity  at  Ephesus,  he  travelled  in  Egypt  and  visited 
most  of  the  Christian  churches  in  every  part  of  the  Roman 
empire,  residing  also  for  a  long  time  at  Rome.  We  may 
therefore  expect  from  him  the  most  exact  and  certain  know- 
ledge of  the  doctrine  and  usages  of  the  second  century.  We 
may  be  assured  that  he  understood  the  government  and  wor- 
ship of  the  church.  That  the  information  which  Justin 
gives  respecting  the  christian  church  was  strictly  and  uni- 
versally true,  we  have  the  fullest  assurance  from  the  learn- 
ing, the  candor  and  the  piety  of  the  author,  and  from  the 
fact  that  he  speaks  from  personal  knowledge  as  an  itinerating 
christian  counsellor  and  teacher.  Never  himself  holding 
any  clerical  office,  his  relations  to  the  church,  his  learning, 
his  candor,  his  piety,  his  extensive  travels,  and  his  death,  all 
concur  to  render  him  an  unexceptionable  witness.  In  his 
description  of  public  worship,  after  mentioning  prayers  and 
the  fraternal  salutation,  he  says, — "  There  is  brought  to  him 
who  presides  over  the  brethren,  tw  nQOEazari  jav  adtXq)(av, 
bread  and  a  cup  of  water,  and  wine ;  and  he,  taking  them, 
offers  up  praise  and  glory  to  the  Father  of  the  universe, 
through  the  name  of  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  ren- 
ders thanks  for  these,  his  gifts.  At  the  close  of  his  petition 
and  thanksgivings,  all  the  people  present  say  Amen  ;  which, 
in  the  Hebrew  language,  signifies  so  way  it  be.  And  he 
who  presides,  having  given  thanks,  and  the  whole  assembly 
having  expressed  their  assent,  they  who  are  called  among  us 
deacons,  8iay.ovoi,  distribute  the  bread,  and  the  wine,  and 
water  to  each  of  those  who  are  present,  to  partake  of  that 
which  has  been  blessed.  Also  they  carry  to  those  who  are 
not  present."^5 

^^  ^^(fsXffol  xotvdg  tvydg  7roi7]adfisvot  imtQ  ts  iavTwv  xal  rov 

(pojTiod-tvTo?   xal  aXkojv  Travraxov  Trdvvojv   tvrovojg aAAz/Aofg 

(ptXijjuaTt  doTtatojiisd'a  Ttavodfiavoc   rwv  tvxoiv.  ensira  '7r^ogqf(Ji:Tat. 
TM  Tr^oeoTMTi  TO)V  d  § 6 1 (p  w  V  aQTog  xal  noti^Qtov  v^'arog  xai 


168  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

His  testimony,  in  the  passage  above  cited,  is  that  two 
orders  only  officiated  in  their  public  worship  and  in  their 
celebration  of  the  eucharist.  Soon  after  this,  he  again  de- 
scribes their  mode  of  public  worship,  and  of  communion, 
and  specifies  the  same  officiating  officers,  the  president  of 
the  brethren,  and  the  deacons.^  Nothing  occurs,  either  in 
the  narrative,  or  in  the  distinctive  epithet,  to  indicate  any 
higher  order  or  office  thin  that  of  the  officiating  presbyter 
who  conducted  their  worship  and  administered  the  sacra- 
ment ;  or  if  you  call  him  bishop,  He  is  still  of  the  same  order, 
distinguished  clearly  from  the  deacons,  but  differing  in  no 
wise  from  the  order  of  presbyters. 

Upon  the  import  of  this  TTQOtGTCog,  of  Justin,  about  which 
so  much  is  said,  the  following  remarks  of  Milton  are  worthy 
of  particular  consideration  : — **  Now  for  the  word  TTnoeaTwg^ 
it  is  more  likely  that  Timothy  never  knew  the  word  in  that 
sense.  It  was  the  vanity  of  those  next  succeeding  times  not 
to  content  themselves  with  the  simplicity  of  Scriptiire  phrase, 
but  must  make  a  new  lexicon  to  name  themselves  by;  one 
will  be  called  nQoearcog,  or  antistes,  a  word  of  precedence; 
another  would  be  termed  a  gnostic,  as  Clemens ;  a  third, 
sacerdos,  or  priest,  and  talks  of  altars;  which  was  a  plain 
sign  that  their  doctrine  began  to  change,  for  which  they 
must  change  their  expressions.  But  that  place  of  Justin 
Martyr  serves  rather  to  convince  the  author,  than  to  make 
for  him,  where  the  name  TiQosaTcog  rcov  ddtlcfojv,  the  presi- 

XQajuaTog,  xal  ovros  Xa^ihv,  ruvov  x«£  ^o^nv  toj  nnrQi  riiiv  ohov.  Sid 
Tov  ovvfiarog  Tov  viov  xnl  roii  TTfti'uinro?  tov  nyi'ovj  dv  nn  e  fin  e  t 
xal  i-v  xa^  iGT iav  imt^  rov  xarT^^iioodnt  rovrtov  TTcf^  avrov  inl 
TtoXv  Tto  celrat .  ov  GvmXtanvTog  rng  tryng  uniTtjV  tvy/'^iGTiav, 
Ttag  6  TTftQMv  Xaog  iirtvcf.Tjfiil  }Jyo)V,  ^fii]v. — tvy/tQtaTfjaavTog  ^t  rov 
TTQOSOTiorog^  nal  iTTavif.rjftr'ioavTog  nnvrvg  rov  Xaov-,  or  y.^lovjiisvoi 
na^  ri/MV  S laixovoi j  SiSuaotv  ey.doTi'j  to)v  TraQoVTOjv  fiaraXn^siv. 
— Jjpot.^  1.  c.  65.  p.  82.  Comp.  Semisch's  Justin  Martyr.  Trans. 
Edinburgh  1843.  Vol.  I.  pp.  28—9. 
«6  Apol.  1.  c.  67.  p.  83. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  169 

dent  or  pastor  of  the  brethren  (for  to  what  end  is  he  their 
president  but  to  teach  them?)  cannot  be  limited  to  signify  a 
prelatical  bishop,  but  rather  communicates  that  Greek  appel- 
lation to  every  ordinary  presbyter ;  for  there  he  tells  what 
the  Christians  had  wont  to  do  in  their  several  congregations,, 
to  read  and  expound,  to  pray  and  administer,  all  which  he 
says  the  TTQoaozojg,  or  antistcs  did.  Are  these  the  offices 
only  of  a  bishop,  or  shall  we  think  that  every  congregation, 
where  these  things  were  done,  which  he  attributes  to  this 
*  antistes,'  had  a  bishop  present  among  them  ?  unless  they 
had  as  many  *  antistites'  as  presbyters,  which  this  place  rather 
seems  to  imply ;  and  so  we  may  infer  even  from  their  own 
alleged  authority,  '  that  antistes  was  nothing  else  but  presby- 
ter.' "67 

Having  now  passed  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  and 
found,  thus  far,  only  two  orders  in  the  church,  we  may  fairly 
conclude  that  such  was  the  organization  adopted  by  the 
apostles.  This  early  and  uniform  usage  is  a  fair  exposition 
of  their  authority  and  example.  But  the  evidence  already- 
adduced  is  corroborated  by  other  authorities. 

Irenaeus,  a  Greek,  of  Asia  Minor,  was  in  his  youth  a  hear- 
er of  the  venerable  Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  John.  He  spent 
his  advanced  life  in  Gaul,  at  Lyons,  and  died  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  third  century,  probably  A.  D.  202. 
Speaking  of  Marcion,  Valentinus,  Cerinthus,  and  other  here- 
tics, he  says: — "When  we  refer  them  to  that  apostolic  tra- 
dition, which  is  preserved  in  the  churches,  through  the  suc- 
cession of  their  presbyters,  these  men  oppose  the  tradition ; 
pretending  that,  being  more  wise  than,  not  only  the  presby- 
ters, but  the  apostles  themselves,  they  have  found  the  uncor- 
rupted  truth. "68     Continuing  the  same  course  of  reasoning,, 

®7  Milton's  Prelatical  Episcopacy,  Prose  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  76. 

®^  Cum  autem  ad  earn  iterum  traditionera,  quae  est  ab  Apostolis, 
quae  per  successiones  Prrsbijlerorum  in  ecclesiis  custoditur,  provoca- 
mus  eos :  adversantur  traditioni,  dicentes,  se  non  solum  Presbyteris, 

15 


170 


THE  PRIMITIVE   CHDRCII. 


the  author,  in  the  next  section,  again  styles  these  same  pres- 
byters, bishops.  "  We  can  enumerate  those  who  were  con- 
stituted by  the  apostles,  bishojjs  in  the  churches ;  their  suc- 
cessors, also,  even  down  to  our  time. — But  because  it  would 
be  tedious,  in  such  a  volume  as  this,  to  enumerate  the  suc- 
cessions in  all  the  churches,  showing  to  you  the  tradition 
and  declared  faith  of  the  greatest  and  most  ancient  and 
noted  church,  founded  at  Rome  by  the  two  glorious  apostles, 
Peter  and  Paul,  which  she  received  from  the  apostles,  and  is 
come  to  us  through  the  successions  of  the  bishops,  we  con- 
found all  who  conclude  otherwise  than  they  ought,  by  what 
means  soever  they  do  so."69 

But  the  very  same  traditions  and  successions,  which  are 
here  ascribed  to  the  bishops,  are  just  above  assigned  also  to 
the  presbyters. 

Again,  treating  of  the  churches  of  Smyrna  and  Ephesus, 
he  speaks  in  a  similar  connection,  of  Polycarp,  as  a  bishop ; 
but  in  another  place,  he  styles  him  that  blessed  and  apostol- 
ical presbyter,  ixHvog  6  fia-Adqiog  y.ai  dTToatoXixog  TiQi-G^vta- 

Again,  "  We  ought  to  obey  those  presbi/ters  in  the  church, 
who  have  succession,  as  we  have  shown,  from   the  apostles ; 

sed  etiam  Jipostolis  exsistentes  sapientiores,  sinceram  invenisse  veri- 
tatern. — Irenacus^JIdv^  Ha(:7\  L.  3.  c.  2.  §  2.  p.  175. 

^^  Traditionem  itaque  Aposlolorurn  in  toto  mundo  manifestatam  in 
omni  ecclesia  adest  respicere  omnibus,  qui  vera  velint  videre  ;  et  ha- 
bemus  annumerare  eos,  qui  ab  Apostolis  instituti  sunt  Episcopi  in 
ecclesiis,  et  successores  eorum  visque  ad  nos,  qui  nihil  tale  docuerunt, 
neque  cognoverunt,  quale  ab  his  deliratur. — Sed  quoniam  valde  Ion- 
gum  est  in  hoc  tali  volumine,  omnium  ecclesiarum  enumerare  suc- 
cessiones,  maximae  et  antiquissimae  et  omnibus  cognitae,  a  glorio- 
sissimis  duobus  Apostolis  Petro  et  Paulo  Romae  fundatae  et  constitu- 
tae  ecclesiao  earn,  quam  habet  ab  Apostolis  traditionem  et  annuntia- 
tam  hominibus  fidem,  per  successiones  Episcopnrum  pervenientem 
usque  ad  nos  indicantes,  confundimus  omnes,  etc. — Irenaevs,  c.  3. 
§1.  p.  175,  et§2.  ibid. 

'0  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  5.  c.  20. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  171 

who,  with  the  succession  of  the  Episcopate,  received  the 
certain  gift  of  truth,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  the 
Father." 

"  And  truly,  they  who  by  many  are  regarded  ^s  presbyters, 
but  serve  their  own  pleasures,  and,  not  having  the  fear  of 
God  in  their  hearts,  but  elated  with  the  pride  of  their  exalta- 
tion to  the  chief  seat,  commit  wickedness  in  secret,  sayhig, 
no  one  seeth  us — they  shall  be  convicted. — From  all  such  we 
ought  to  withdraw,  and,  as  we  have  said,  to  adhere  to  those 
who  maintain  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles,  and  who,  with  the 
order  of  the  preshytcrsJdp  preserve  sound  doctrine  and  a 
blameless  conversation  for  the  confirmation  and  reproof  of 
others,"^^ 

Again,  he  says,  *  that  they  who  cease  to  serve  the  church 
in  the  ministry,  are  a  reproach  to  the  sacred  order  of  the 
presbyters ;'  but  he  had  just  before  styled  these  same  persons 
bishop  s."^'^ 

In  his  letter  to  the  Roman  bishop  Victor,  he  speaks  of 

'*  Quapropter  eis,  qui  in  ecclesiis  sunt,  Prcshyteris  obaudire  oportet, 
his,  qui  successionem  habent  ab  Apostolis,  sicut  ostendimus  ;  qui  cum 
Episcopatus  successione  charisma  veritatis  certum  secundum  placi- 
tum  Patris  accepernnt,  etc.  After  this, — Qui  vero  crediti  quidem 
sunt  a  multis  esse  Prcshytcri,  serviunt  autem  suis  voluptatibus,  et 
non  praeponunt  timorem  Dei  in  cordibus  suis,  sed  contumeliis  agunt 
reliquos,  et  principalis  conscssioni.s  tumore  elati  sunt  et  in  absconsis 
agunt  mala,  et  dicunt,  nemo  nos  videt,  redarguentur  a  verbo,  etc. — Ab 
omnibus  igitur  talibus  absistere  oportet,  adhaerere  vero  his,  qui  et 
Apostolorum,  sicut  praediximus,  doctrinam  custodiunt,  et  cum  Pres- 
hijterii  ordine  sermonom  sanum  et  conversationem  sine  ofFensa  praes- 
tant,  ad  confirmationem  et  correptionem  ceterorum.  Finally,  Toiov- 
Tove  II Q  so^vTtQov?  dvaTQtcptt  7]  fx)t?.->]aia.  itsqI  6)V  xal  o  TTQOcprjttjg 
(ptjatv  SbiGO)  Tov?  aQ'/ovrds  aov  iv  eJQTjVt]  xal  Tovg  iir laxonovg  Iv 
6'ixaioovvp. — Irenneus,  L.  4.  c.  26.  §  2,  3,  4.  p.  262.  §  5.  p.  263. 

■^2  Qui  ergo  relinquunt  praeconium  ecclesiae  imperitiam  sanctorum 
prcshijtcrorum  arjruunt,  non  contemplantes  quanto  pluris  sit  idiota  re- 
ligiosus  a  blasphemo  et  impudente  sophista,  L.  5.  c.  20.  §  2.  In  the 
preceding  section,  he  says,  Omnes  enim  valde  posteriores  sunt  quam 
episcopl  quibus  apostoli  tradiderunt  ecclesias.  §  1. 


172  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  presbyters,  who  had  presided  over  the  church  in  that 
city  before  that  bishop.  One  of  these  bishops,  the  predeces- 
sors of  Victor,  was  Anicetus,  whom  Polycarp  endeavored  in 
vain  to  persuade  to  "  retain  the  usage  of  the  presbyters  who 
had  preceded  him.""^ 

We  submit  the  above  extracts  to  the  attention  of  the 
reader,  who  cannot  fail  to  observe,  that  tlie  terms,  bishop  and 
presbyter  are  used  by  this  ancient  father,  as  perfectly  conver- 
tible terms.  Bishops  he  denominates  presbyters  ;  and  pres- 
byters, bishops.  In  so  many  words  he  ascribes  the  Episco- 
pate to  presbyters.  They  unitedly  constitute  but  one  order 
in  the  priesthood.  Both  Justin  and  Irenaeus  represent  the 
churches  of  Asia  Minor.  The  latter  also  resided  for  many 
years  in  the  Western  part  of  the  Roman  empire.  The 
former,  resided  at  Rome  when  he  wrote  the  Apology  from 
which  the  extract  is  taken.  He  travelled  in  the  different 
countries  where  the  gospel  had  been  preached,  confirming 
the  churches,  and  was  personally  acquainted  with  the  usages 
both  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches.  The  concur- 
ring testimony  of  these  two  witnesses  shows,  that  as  yet  the 
Christian  church  universally  retained  the  apostolical  institu- 
tion of  two  orders  of  the  clergy. 

We  are  not  ignorant  of  the  gloss  that  is  given  to  these 
passages  from  Irenaeus,  in  the  endeavor  to  defend  the  theory 
of  an  original  distinction  between  bishops  and  presbyters. 
But  the  consideration  of  the  Episcopal  argument  is  foreign 
to  our  purpose.  The  authorities  are  before  the  reader;  and 
of  their  obvious  meaning,  any  one  is  competent  to  form  an 
independent,  unaided  judgment. 

Titus  Flavius  Clemens,  commonly  known  as  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  lived  at  the  close  of  the  second,  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century.  He  was  at  the  head  of  the  cele- 
brated school  at  Alexandria,  the  preceptor  of  Origen,  and 

'3  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  5.  c.  20. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  173 

the  most  learned  man  of  his  age.  He  speaks  indeed  of 
presbyters,  bishops  and  deacons.  After  citing  from  the  epis- 
tles various  practical  precepts,  he  proceeds  to  say  that  "  nu- 
merous other  precepts  also,  directed  to  select  characters, 
have  been  written  in  the  sacred  hooks,  some  to  presbi/iers, 
some  to  bishops,  some  to  deacons,  and  others  to  widows."'^^ 
In  this  enumeration  he  appears  to  have  followed  the  order  of 
the  apostle  in  Tit.  I:  5 — 7,  mentioning  presbyters  first.  He 
repeatedly  shows,  however,  that  there  were  at  that  time 
but  two  orders,  deacons  and  presbyters;  having  observed 
that  in  most  things  there  are  two  sorts  of  ministry,  the  one, 
of  a  nobler  nature  than  the  other,  and  having  illustrated 
this  distinction  by  several  other  examples,  he  says  :  ''  Just  so 
in  the  church,  the  presbyters  are  entrusted  with  the  digni- 
fied ministry ;  the  deacons,  with  the  subordinate."^^  jje 
also  speaks  of  a  TZQoxad^edQia,  or  first  seat  in  the  presbytery  ; 
from  all  which,  the  obvious  inference  is,  that  the  bishop  of 
this  author  is  only  the  nQoeaimg  of  earlier  writers,  the  presid- 
ing elder  of  the  presbytery.  Henceforth  the  title  of  nQOf^azcog 
is  seldom  found  in  the  fathers,  but  instead  of  it  that  of  ettlg- 
y.07tog,  bishop,  constantly  occurs. 

In  his  treatise,  "  What  rich  man  can  be  saved  ? "  Clem- 
ent relates  that  John,  the  apostle,  observing  a  young  man  of 
singular  beauty,  was  so  struck  with  his  appearance,  that  turn- 
ing to  the  bishop  who  presided  over  all,  he  commended  him 
to  his  care  in  the  presence  of  the  church.  John  after  repeat- 
ing the  charge,  is  said  to  have  returned  to  Ephesus,  and  *'  this 
presbyter ^^  taking  home  the  young  man  that  had  been  com- 
mitted to  his  care,  nourished,  educated,  and  lost  him.  John 
himself,  on  his  return,  is  represented  to  have  addressed  this 
same  presbyter  as  a  bishop,  "  O  bishop,  return  to  us  your 

74  Paedag.  Lib.  3.  p.  264.     Comp.  also  Strom.  Lib.  6.  p.  667. 

'^  'Ofzoi'ojg  St  xal  xnrd  Tfjv  fxxXTjai'ar,  rtjV  (xlv  ^aXriOTtxtjV  o» 
TTqeo^vteQot  oojLovoiv,  sixuva  rtjV  vTrsQtutijv  ot  Sidxovot. — Strom.  Lib. 
7.  p.  700. 

15* 


174 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


charge.'''''^  Here  then  Clement  uses  interchangeably  the 
terms,  bishop  and  presbyter,  to  designate  the  same  person, 
and  makes  John  address,  as  bishop,  one  who  was,  notwith- 
standing, a  mere  presbyter.  *'  In  this  author  we  find  a  pres- 
bytery and  deacons  only,  which  is  as  forcible  an  exclusion  of 
a  third  order,  whether  superior  or  intermediate,  as  can  be 
reasonably  expected  from  a  writer,  who  had  no  knowledge  of 
a  third." 

The  account  of  Tertullian  again,  contemporary  with 
Clement,  both  having  died  the  same  year,  A.  D.  220,  har- 
monizes in  a  remarkable  manner  with  that  of  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, as  exhibited  above.  In  describing  the  worship  of  Chris- 
tian assemblies,  he  observes  :  "  Certain  approved  elders  pre- 
side who  have  obtained  that  honor,  not  by  price,  but  by  the 
evidence  of  their  fitness."'^^  Aged  men  never  presided  by 
virtue  of  their  age,  in  ancient  Christian  assemblies.  Besides 
the  passage  distinctly  asserts  that  these  presidents  were  cho- 
sen  to  their  office.  They  administered  the  sacrament  and  ful- 
filled the  office  of  the  TtgoeaTcog  of  Justin  Martyr.  "  We  never 
take  from  the  hands  of  others  than  presidents,  jjraesidentium, 
the  sacrament  of  the  eucharist,"  says  Tertullian.'^^  The 
president  is  also  denominated  in  the  same  chapter,  antistes, 
a  term  exactly  corresponding  to  that  o^ nqoearMg  in  Justin. 
That  this  president,  styled  also  bishop,  is  only  the  presiding 
and  officiating  presbyter,  is  apparent  from  another  passage  in 
Tertullian.  "  The  hxghe^i  priest ,  who  is  the  bishop,  has  the 
right  of  granting  baptism ;  afterwards,  the  presbyters  and 
deacons ;  not,  however,  without  the  authority  of  the  bishops 
for  the  honor  of  the  church. "^^  The  highest  priest  implies 
ihe  existence  of  inferiors  of  the  same  order.     What  then  is  the 

'6  Chap.  42.  pp.  667,  660,  vol.  7.  Sanct.  Pat.  Op.  Polemica. 

''  Praesident  probati  quique  seniores  honorein  istum  non  pretio,  sed 
testirnonio  adepti;  neque  eniin  pretio  ulla  res  Dei  constat. — Apol. 
c.  39, 

78  De  Corona,  c.  3.  p.  102. 

^  Dandi  baptismum  quidem  habet  jus  summus  sacerdos  qui  est 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  175 

bishop,  but  a  presbyter  elevated  to  the  office  of  a  president  or 
moderator?  That  this  office  implies  no  superiority  in  order 
or  rank,  appears  from  the  fact  that  he  who  held  it  was  ap- 
pointed to  it,  not  by  any  scriptural  or  apostolical  ordmation 
or  appointment,  but  sirnply  for  the  preservation  of  the  honor 
and  peace  of  the  church. 

Tertullian  represents  another  division  of  the  church,  that 
of  Africa,  in  which  the  Episcopal  government  was  earliest 
developed ;  but  even  in  these  churches  the  apostolical  order 
had  not  yet  been  fully  superseded  by  the  hierarchy.  The 
sum  of  his  testimony  as  well  as  of  that  of  all  who  have  gone 
before  him,  is,  that  there  was  but  one  order  in  the  church 
superior  to  that  of  deacons.  The  govermneut  of  the  church 
was,  in  his  time,  in  a  transition  state.  Tertullian  stands,  as 
has  been  justly  observed,  **on  the  boundary  between  two  dif- 
ferent epochs  in  the  development  of  the  church."  Henceforth 
the  bishop  assumes  more  prominence ;  but  as  yet  he  has  not  be- 
gun to  be  acknowledged  as  one  of  an  order  superior  to  pres- 
byters. From  the  days  of  the  apostles  downwards  he  has 
been  one  among  his  fellow-presbyters  possessing  merely  that 
conventional  distinction  which  belongs  to  any  one  who  may 
be  appointed  the  presiding  officer  of  a  body,  all  whose 
members  enjoy  equal  rights  and  privileges.  Whatever  apos- 
tolical succession  there  has  been  thus  far,  has  been  through 
a  line  of  presbyters  by  presbyterian  ordination.  The  lists 
which  Irenaeus  has  given  of  primitive  bishops  are  only  cata- 
logues of  presbyters  bearing  this  title.  The  usurpation  of 
Episcopal  prerogative,  the  assumption  by  the  bishops  of  di- 
vine right,  and  all  those  innovations  whose  general  progress, 
we  are  soon  to  witness  are  unauthorized  and  anti-scriptural, 
and  consequently  are  mere  nullities;  and  such  they  must 
ever  continue  to  be,  notwithstanding  the  incredible  assurance 
with  which,  by  some,  their  canonical  authority  is  ceaselessly 

episcopus  :    Dehinc  presbyteri  et  diaconi ;  non  tamen  sine  episcopi 
auctoritate  propter  ecclesiae  honorem. — De  Bajd.  c.  17. 


176  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

asserted.  General  assertions  however  unfounded  are  easily 
made  ;  and,  when  boldly  made  and  perpetually  repeated,  they 
do  sometimes  ensure  reception.  But  we  know  not  how  any 
man  who  knows  what  proof  is,  and  what  the  evidence  in  the 
present  case  is,  can  venture  on  such  assumptions.  What  if 
Tertullian,  Clement,  Irenaeus,  and  others,  tell  us  of  bishops  ? 
**  It  remains  yet  to  be  evinced  out  of  this  and  the  like  places, 
which  will  never  be,  that  the  word  bishop  is  otherwise  taken, 
than  in  the  language  of  St.  Paul  and  the  Acts,  for  an  order 
above  presbyters.  We  grant  them  bishops,  we  grant  them 
worthy  men,  we  grant  them  placed  in  several  churches  by 
the  apostles,  we  grant  that  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian  affirm 
this;  but  that  they  were  placed  in  a  superior  order  above  the 
presbytery,  show  from  all  these  words  why  we  should  grant. 
It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  the  apostle  left  this  man  bishop 
in  Rome,  and  that  other  in  Ephesus,  but  to  show  when  they 
altered  their  own  decree  set  down  by  St.  Paul,  and  made  all 
the  presbyters  underlings  to  one  bishop."^o 

3.  Presbyters  were  understood  in  the  early  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity to  possess  the  right  to  ordain,  and  generally  to  perform 
the  functions  of  the  Episcopal  office. 

The  right  of  presbyters  to  ordain,  and  the  validity  of  ordi- 
nation administered  by  them,  is  a  direct  inference  from  what 
has  already  been  said  of  their  identity  whh  bishops.  Clem- 
ent knows  nothing  of  any  distinction  between  bishops  and 
presbyters.  Polycarp  knows  nothing  of  bishops.  Each  spe- 
cifies but  two  orders  or  grades  of  officers  in  the  church,  of 
which  two  deacons  are  one.  Presbyters  or  bishops,  of  ne- 
cessity form  the  other  order,  and  are  one  and  the  same. 
Justin  Martyr,  again,  speaks  of  only  two  grades,  of  which 
deacons  form  one.  Irenaeus,  still  later,  uses  the  titles,  bish- 
op and  presbyter,  as  perfectly  convertible  terms ;  and  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria  and  Tertullian  recognize  no  clear  distinction 
between  bishops  and  presbyters  as  different  orders.     If  there- 

^  Milton's  Prelatical  Episcopacy,  Prose  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  85. 


EQUALITY  OP  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  177 

fore  there  were,  in  the  ages  immediately  succeeding  the  apos- 
tles, but  two  orders  in  the  church,  if  bishops  and  presbyters 
were  still  but  different  names  for  the  same  office,  as  they  were 
in  the  churches  founded  by  the  apostles,  then  assuredly  pres- 
byters had  the  right  to  ordain.  The  ordaining  power  was  vest- 
ed in  them,  as  the  highest  order  of  ecclesiastical  officers. 

We  have,  however,  direct  proof  that  presbyters,  in  the  primi- 
tive church,  did  themselves  ordain.  This  is  found  in  the  epistle 
of  Firmilian  from  Asia  Minor,  to  Cyprian  in  Carthage,  A.  D. 
256.  In  explanation  of  the  ecclesiastical  polity  of  these 
churches,  he  says,  "  All  power  and  grace  is  vested  in  the 
church,  where  the  presbyters,  majores  w«^w,  preside,  who  have 
authority  to  baptize,  to  impose  hands  [in  the  reconciling  of 
penitents],  and  to  ordain."^^  Firmilian  wrote  in  the  Greek 
language,  from  Asia ;  but  we  have  a  Latin  translation  of  his 
epistle  in  the  writings  of  Cyprian.  No  one  who  has  any  ac- 
quaintance with  these  languages,  can  doubt  that  the  majores 
natu,  of  the  Latin  is  a  translation  oi  TtQea^vrtQOi,  in  the  origi- 
nal. Both  the  terms  TZQeo^vTtQoi  and  majores  natu,  mean 
the  same  thing ;  and  each  may,  with  equal  propriety,  be  ren- 
dered aged  men,  elders,  preshyters.^^  The  Episcopal  hie- 
rarchy was  not  fully  established  in  these  Eastern  churches 
so  early  as  in  the  Western.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  pres- 
byters here  in  the  full  enjoyment  still  of  their  original  right 

'^^  Omnis  potestas  et  gratia  in  ecclesia  constituta  sit;  ubi  praesi- 
dent  majores  natu,  qui  et  baptizandi,  et  manuin  imponendi,  et  ordi- 
nandi, possidenl,  potestatem. —  Cyprian,  Epist.  75.  p.  145. 

^2  Reeves,  the  translator  of  Justin,  a  churchman,  who  loses  no  op- 
portunity of  opposing  sectarians,  allows  in  his  notes  on  the  passage, 
TTQOSarok,  etc.,  that  this  Trgosorolg  of  Justin,  the  prohati  seniorcjt  of 
Tertullian,  the  majores  natu  of  Firmilian,  and  the  irgosarwrtg  ttqsg- 
^vtIqoi,  or  presiding  presbyters  of  St.  Paul,  1  Tim.  4:  17,  were  all 
one  and  the  same.  Now  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  or  Firmilian,  the  cele- 
brated bishop  of  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  and  St.  Paul,  all  mean  pres- 
byters. Their  language  cannot  be  otherwise  interpreted  without 
violence.  Presbyter,  says  Bishop  Jewell,  is  expounded  in  Latin  by 
major  natu. — Smyth's  Presbyt.  and  Prelacy,  p.  367. 


178  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

to  ordain.  The  general  tenor  of  the  letter,  in  connection 
with  this  passage,  exhibits  the  popular  government  of  the 
apostolical  churches  as  yet  continuing  among  the  churches  of 
Asia.  The  highest  authority  is  vested  in  the  members  of  the 
church,  who  still  administer  their  own  government.  No  re- 
strictions have  yet  been  laid  upon  the  presbyters  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  ordinances.  Whatever  clerical  grace  is 
essential  for  the  right  administration  of  baptism,  of  consecra- 
tion, and  of  ordination,  is  still  retained  by  the  presbyters. 

This  authority  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  of  Irenaeus 
given  above,  that  the  succession  and  the  Episcopate  had 
come  down  to  his  day,  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century, 
through  a  series  of  presbyters,  who,  with  the  Episcopate,  en- 
joyed the  rights,  and  exercised  the  prerogatives,  of  bishops, 
ordination  being  of  course  included.  '*  This  passage,"  says 
Goode,  *'  appears  to  me  decisive  as  to  Irenaeus's  view  of  the 
matter."83 

To  the  foregoing  testimonies  succeeds  that  of  the  author 
of  the  Commentaries  on  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  attributed  by 
some  to  Ambrose,  but  with  greater  probability  assigned  to 
Hilary  the  Deacon,  A.  D.  384.  ''  The  apostle  calls  Tim- 
othy, created  by  him  a  presbyter, ^^  a  bishop  (for  the  first 
presbyters  were  called*  bishops),  that  when  he  departed,  the 

83  Goode's  Divine  Rule,  Vol.  ii.  p.  66. 

^*  "  Timothy  is  here  said,  we  may  observe,  to  have  been  ordained  a 
presbyter.  And  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  passage,  1  Tim.  4:  14,  is 
favorable  to  this  view.  For  without  adopting  the  translation  which 
some  have  given  of  this  passage,  viz.,  '  with  the  laying  on  of  hands 
for  the  office  of  a  presbyter,'  if  we  retain  our  own  version,  which  ap- 
pears to  me  more  natural,  who  or  what  is  '  the  presbytery  f  Ceitain- 
ly  not  consisting  altogether  of  the  apostles,  though  it  appears,  from 
2  Tim.  1:  6,  that  ordination  v/as  received  by  Timothy  partly  from  St. 
Paul.  But  if  presbyters  joined  in  that  ordination,  it  could  not  be  to 
a  higher  sacerdotal  grade  or  order  than  that  of  the  presbyterhood. 
Nor  is  this  inconsistent  with  his  being  called  elsewhere  an  apostle, 
which  name  might  be  given  him  as  one  appointed  to  be  a  superin- 
tendent of  a  church." — Divine  Rule^  Vol.  II.  p.  64. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  179 

one  that  came  next  might  succeed  him.  Moreover,  in  Egypt 
the  presbyters  confirm,  if  a  bishop  is  not  present. ^^  But  be- 
cause the  presbyters  that  followed  began  to  be  found  un- 
worthy to  hold  the  primacy,  the  custom  was  altered  ;  the 
Council  foreseeing  that  not  order,  but  merit,  ought  to  make 
a  bishop ;  and  that  he  should  be  appointed  by  the  judgment 
of  many  priests,  lest  an  unworthy  person  should  rashly  usurp 
the  office,  and  be  a  scandal  to  many."S6 

This  passage,  then,  clearly  contradicts  the  notion  of  our 
opponents  as  to  the  essential  necessity  by  apostolical  ordi- 
nance of  the  successional  Episcopal  consecration  of  all 
bishops.^''' 

8»  The  author  of  the  "  Qusestiones  in  Vet.  et  Nov.  Test."  which 
have  been  ascribed  to  Augustine,  but  are  probably  not  his,  says,  "  In 
Alexandria,  and  through  the  whole  of  Egypt,  if  there  is  no  bishop, 
a  presbyter  consecrates^  (In  Alexandria  et  per  totam  jEgyptum  si 
desit  Episcopus  consecrat  presbyter.)  Where,  however,  one  MS. 
reads,  confirms  (consignat).  See  Aug.  Op  ,  Vol.  III.  App.,  co).  93. 
On  this  subject,  the  13th  canon  of  the  Council  of  Ancyra  (in  the  code 
of  the  Universal  Church)  is  also  worth  notice. — Divine  Rule,  ibid. 

^  Timotheum,  presbyterum  a  se  creatum,  episcopum  vocat,  quia 
primi  presbyteri  episcopi  appellabantur,  ut  recedente  uno  sequens  ei 
succederet,  Denique  apud  iEgyptum  presbyteri  consignant  si  pras- 
sens  non  sit  episcopus.  Sed  quia  coeperunt  sequentes  presbyteri  in- 
digni  inveniri  ad  primatus  tenendos,  inimutata  est  ratio,  prospiciente 
Concilio,  ut  non  ordo  sed  meritum  crearet  episcopum  multorum  sa- 
cerdotuin  judicio  constitutum  ne  indignus  temere  usurparet  et  esset 
multis  scandalum.  Comment,  in  Eph  4:  11,  12.  Inter  Op.  Am- 
bros.,  ed.  Ben.,  Vol.  II.  app.  col.  241,  242.  The  "  Council  may,  1 
suppose,  be  what  Tertullian  calls  "  consessvs  ordinis." 

'*'■  There  are,  also,  indirect  confirmatory  proofs.  Such,  I  think,  is 
afforded  by  the  account  we  have  in  Eusebius  (vi.  29,)  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  Fabianus  to  the  bishopric  of  Rome,  for  the  assembly  that 
met  to  elect  a  bishop  having  fixed  upon  him,  placed  him  at  once  on 
the  Episcopal  throne.  (^ jifxtkh'iroyq  inl  tov  •d'^ovov  Ttj^  tiriaxoTr/jg 
Xa^ovrng  avrov  tTit-d'tivai )  which  seems  to  me  irreconcilable  with  the 
notion  that  Episcopal  consecration  was  essential  to  entitle  him  to  the 
Episcopal  seat ;  for  he  was  installed  in  it  without  any  such  consecra- 
tion. 


180  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

4 

Apreshytcr,  it  is  to  be  observed,  becomes  the  successor  of 
the  apostle;  and  the  apostolical  succession  comes  down 
through  him,  as  through  a  bishop;  plainly  contradicting  the 
notion  that  the  grace  of  ordination  is  exclusively  restricted 
to  a  succession  of  diocesan  bishops,  and  establishing,  in  the 
opinion  of  this  author,  the  validity  of  presbyterian  ordina- 
tion. To  this  effect  is  the  same  author.  *'  After  the  bishop, 
the  apostle  has  subjoined  the  ordination  (order)  of  the  dea- 
conship.  Why;  but  that  the  ordination  (order)  of  a  bishop 
and  presbyter  is  one  and  the  same  ?  For  each  is  a  priest ; 
but  the  bishop  is  chief;  so  that  every  bishop  is  a  presbyter, 
but  not  every  presbyter  a  bishop.  For  he  is  bishop  who  is 
chief  among  the  presbyters.  Moreover,  he  notices  that  Tim- 
othy was  ordained  a  presbyter,  but  inasmuch  as  he  had  no 
other  above  him,  he  was  a  bishop.''  Hence  he  shows  that 
Timothy,  a.  presbyter,  might  ordain  a  bishop,  because  of  his 
equality  with  him.  "  For  it  was  neither  lawful  nor  right  for 
an  inferior  to  ordain  a  superior,  inasmuch  as  one  cannot  con- 
fer what  he  has  not  received."^ 

There  is  another  passage  which  is  in  striking  coincidence 
w^ith  the  foregoing,  and  is  probably  from  the  same  author, 
though  found  in  an  appendix  to  the  works  of  Augustine. 
"That  by  presbyter  is  meant  a  bishop,  the  apostle  Paul 
proves,  when  he  instructs  Timothy  whom  he  had  ordained  a 
presbyter,  respecting  the  character  of  one  whom  he  would 
make  a  bishop.     For  what  else  is  the  bishop  than  the  Jirst 

^  Post  Episcopum  tamen  Diaconi  ordinationetn  subjicit.  Quare  ? 
nisi  quia  Episcnpi  et  Presbyteri  una  ordinatio  est  P  Uterque  enim 
sacerdos  est,  sed  Episcopus  primus  est ;  ut  omnis  Episcopus  Presby- 
ter sit,  non  omnis  Presbyter  Episcopus;  hie  enim  Episcopus  est,  qui 
inter  Prcsbyteros  primus  est.  Denique  Timotheum  Presbyterum  . 
ordinatum  ^nificat ;  sed  quia  ante  se  alterum  non  habebat,  Episco- 
pus erat.  Unde  et  quemadmodum  Episcopum  ordinet  ostendit.  Ne- 
que  enim  fas  erat  aut  licebat,  ut  inferior  ordinaret  majorem  ;  nemo 
enim  tribuit  quod  non  accepit. —  Comment,  in  1  Tim.  3:  8,  inter  Jim- 
bros.  Op.  Vol.  II.  app.  295. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  181 

presbyter,  th;it  is,  the  highest  priest  1  For  he  [the  bishop} 
calls  them  [the  presbyters]  by  no  other  name  than  fdlow^ 
presbyters  and  fellow-prutts.  He  therefore  considers  them- 
of  the  same  grade  as  himself"  But  he  is  careful  by  no 
means  to  do  the  same  with  regard  to  clerical  persons  of  in- 
ferior rank.  Not  even  with  the  deacons,  for  to  place  him- 
self in  the  same  category  with  them  would  be  degrading  his 
own  rank.  "  Does  the  bishop  call  the  deacons  his  fellow- 
deacons?  Certainly  not ;  because  they  are  far  inferior  to 
him,  and  it  were  a  disgrace  to  call  the  judge  a  mere  mana- 
ger of  a  clerk's  office.^'  If  any  are  disposed  to  call  in  ques- 
tion this  interpretation  of  the  phrase,  judicem  dicere  primi-^ 
cerium,  I  will  only  say  that  it  was  given  to  me  by  ProfT 
Rothe  of  Heidelberg,  with  whose  name  the  reader  has 
already  become  familiar,  by  the  frequent  references  to  his 
learned  work  on  the  Origin  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
following  is  also  his  exposition  of  the  passage.  "  Where 
there  is  a  real  difference  of  office  and  rank,  the  higher 
officer  cannot  include  himself  in  the  official  designation  of 
the  loioer,  without  degrading  himself.  It  would  be  a  down- 
right insult,  to  address  the  president  of  a  court  as  the  head' 
of  his  clerks.  Just  so  it  does  not  enter  the  mind  of  the 
bishop  to  call  his  deacons,  fellow-deacons, — making  himself 
thereby  a  deacon.  Between  these  two  officers  there  exists 
an  actual  difference  in  rank.  On  the  other  hand,  he  calls 
the  presbyters  his  fllow-presbyttrs,  because  he  sees  no  real 
difference  between  his  office  and  theirs,  but  only  a  difTerence 
in  degree ;  that  is,  he  considers  himself,  in  relation  to  the 
presbyters,  as  only  primus  inter  pares,  chief  among  equals. 
The  offices  of  bishop  and  presbyter  therefore  are  essentially 
one  and  the  same  ;  the  very  thing  which  Ambrosiaster  wishes 
to  prove.  *  For  in  Alexandria  and  throughout  all  Egypt^ 
upon  the  decease  of  the  bishop,  the  presbyter  confirms  (co«- 
signat).'  "»9 

^^  Presbyterum  autein   intelligi   Episcopum  probat  Paulus  Aposto- 
16 


182  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Here  the  presbyter  performs  another  of  the  Episcopal 
functions, — administering  the  rite,  not  only  of  ordination  but 
of  confirmation.^ 

The  full  sacerdotal  power  is  possessed  by  every  presby- 
ter, according  to  the  authority  of  the  earliest  fathers.  The 
apostolical  fathers  know  no  distinction  between  bishops  and 
presbyters ;  and  later  ones  make  no  difference  in  their  07der 
or  grade  of  rank.  The  distinction  of  bishop  is  only  a  con- 
ventional arrangement  made  for  mutual  convenience,  but  in 
no  wise  incapacitating  the  presbyter  for  the  performance  of 
any  of  his  sacerdotal  offices.  The  right  to  ordain  still  be- 
longs to  him ;  and  the  bishop,  when  selected  to  preside  over 
his  fellow-presbyters,  receives  no  new  consecration  or  ordi- 
nation, but  continues  himself  to  ordain  as  a  presbyter. 

Such  is  a  plain  statement  of  this  controverted  point,  and 
such  the  exposition  which  many  Episcopal  writers,  even  at 
the  present  day  give  of  this  subject.  But  if  the  delusive  doc- 
trine of  divine  right  and  apostolical  succession  be  given  up, 
the  validity  of  presbyterian  ordination  is  of  course  conceded. 
Such  Episcopalians,  therefore,  themselves  afford  us  the  fullest 
refutation  of  the  absurd  and  arrogant  pretensions  of  high- 
church  Episcopacy. 

lus,  quando  Timotheum,  quern  ordinavit  Presbyterum  instruit,  qua- 
lum  debeat  creare  Episcopum.  Quid  estenim  Episcopus  nisi  primus 
Presbyter,  hoc  est  summus  sacerdos?  Denique  non  aliter  quam  Com- 
presbyteros,  Condiaconos  suos  dicit  Episcopus  ?  ^on  utique,  quia 
multo  inferiores  sunt,  et  turpe  est,  iudicem  dicere  priniiceriuni. — 
Augustin.  Op.  Vol.  III.  app.  p.  77.  Quacstioncs  in  Vcteris  ct  jYov.  Test, 
ex  utroqua  mixtirn,  cd.  Bmed.  Jintweip.,  1700 — 3. 

^  Whether  the  verb  consignare  expresses  the  confirmation  of  the 
baptized,  or  tlie  imposition  of  hands  upon  those  who  were  ordained, 
or  on  penitents,  the  work  expressed  by  it  was  correctly  accomplished 
by  presbyters,  in  the  absence  of  the  bishop,  whose  precedence  was 
founded  only  on  custom,  and  the  canons  of  the  church.  But  these 
could  not  have  legalized  such  acts  of  the  presbyter  had  not  his  au- 
thority been  apostolical.  He  was  therefore  duly  authorized  to  per- 
form the  functions  of  the  Episcopal  office. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  183 

We  have  next  the  authority  of  Jerome,  who  died  A.  D. 
426.  He  was  one  of  the  most  learned  of  the  Latin  fathers. 
Erasmus  styles  him  *'  by  far  the  most  learned  and  most  elo- 
quent of  all  the  Christians,  and  the  prince  of  Christian  di- 
vines." Jerome  received  his  education  at  Rome,  and  was 
familiar  with  the  Roman,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  languages. 
He  visited  Egypt,  and  travelled  extensively  in  France  and 
the  adjacent  countries.  He  resided,  in  the  course  of  his 
life,  at  Constantinople,  at  Antioch,  at  Jerusalem,  and  at 
Bethlehem.  By  his  great  learning,  and  his  extensive  ac- 
quaintance with  all  that  related  to  the  doctrines  and  usages 
both  of  the  Eastern  and  of  the  Western  churches,  he  was 
eminently  qualified  to  explain  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of 
the  priesthood. 

But  does  Jerome  testify  to  the  right  of  presbyters  to  or- 
dain ?  "  What  does  a  bishop,"  says  he,  "  ordination  except- 
ed, that  a  presbyter  may  not  do?"9i  This,  however,  is  said 
of  the  relations  of  bishop  and  presbyter  as  they  then  were. 
This  restriction  of  the  right  of  ordaining  to  the  bishops  alone 
was  a  recent  innovation,  which  had  begun  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  presbyters,  and  to  subvert  the  original  organ- 
ization of  the  church.  But  it  was  an  acknowledged  fact, 
in  his  day,  that  the  bishops  had  no  authority  from  Christ  or 
his  apostles  for  their  unwarrantable  assumptions.  *'  As  the 
presbyters  know  that  it  is  by  the  custom  of  the  church  that 
they  are  subject  to  him  who  is  placed  over  them,  so  let  the 
bishops  know  that  they  are  above  presbyters  rather  by  the 
custom  of  the  church  than  by  the  fact  of  our  Lord's  ap- 
pointment, and  that  they  (both  bishops  and  presbyters)  ought 
to  rule  the  church  in  common,  in  imitation  of  the  example 
of  Moses."92 

^^  Quid  enim  facit,  excepta  ordinatione,  Episcopus,  quod  presbyter 
non  facial  ? — Ep.  ad  Evang.  Ep.  101  alias 85.  Op.  Ed.  Paris,  1693 — 
1706,  p.  802. 

82  Comment,  in  Epist.  ad  Titus,  c.  1.  v.  5.  Op.  Vol.  IV.  Paris, 
1603—1706,  p.  413. 


184  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

lie  reviews  the  same  subject  with  great  point  in  his  fa- 
mous epistle  to  Evagrius,  or,  more  properly  in  modern  edi- 
tions, to  Evangelus.  He  rebukes  with  great  severity  certain 
persons  who  had  preferred  deacons  in  honor  "  above  prcsbi/- 
tcrs,  i.  e.,  bis-hojjs."  Having  thus  asserted  the  identity  of 
bishops  and  presbyters,  he  goes  on  to  prove  his  position  from 
Phil.  I:  1  ;  from  Acts  20:  17,  28;  from  Titus  1:5;  from  1 
Tim.  4:  14;  and  from  1  Pet.  5;  I.  "Does  the  testimony 
of  these  men  seem  of  small  account  to  you  ?"  he  proceeds 
to  say,  "  then  clangs  the  gospel  trumpet, — that  son  of  thun- 
der whom  Jesus  so  much  loved,  and  who  drank  at  the  foun- 
tain of  truth  from  the  Saviour's  breast.  'The  presbi/t(r  to 
the  elect  lady  and  her  children.'  2  John  1:  1 ;  and  in 
another  epistle,  '  The  presbyter  to  the  well-beloved  Gaius.' 
3  John  1:1." 

"  As  to  the  fact,  that  afterwards,  one  w^as  elected  to 
preside  over  the  rest,  this  was  done  as  a  remedy  against 
schism  ;  lest  every  one  drawing  his  proselytes  to  himself 
should  rend  the  church  of  Christ.  ^For  even  at  Alexandria, 
from  the  evangelist  Mark  to  the  bishops  Heraclas  and  Diony- 
sius,  the  presbyters  always  chose  one  of  their  number,  placed 
him  in  a  superior  station,  and  gave  him  the  title  of  bishop ; 
in  the  same  manner  as  if  an  army  should  make  an  emperor; 
or  the  deacons  should  choose  from  among  themselves  one 
vi^hom  they  knew  to  be  particularly  active,  and  should  call 
him  arch-deacon.  For,  excepting  ordination,  what  is  done 
by  a  bishop,  which  may  not  be  done  by  a  presbyter."^^ 

^^  Sicut  ergo  Presbyleri  sciunt,  se  ex  Ecclesiae  consiietudine  ei, 
qui  sibi  praeposltijs  fuerit,  esse  subieotos,  ita  Episcopi  noverint,  se 
magis  consuetudine  qnam  dispositionis  Doniinicae  veriLate  Presbyte- 
ris  esse  maiores,  et  in  cominune  debeie  Ecclesiam  regerc,  imituntes 
Moysen,  qui  cum  haberct  in  potestate  solus  praeesse  populo  Israel, 
septuag'inta  elegit,  cum  quibus  populuin  iudicaret.  Audio  queiidam 
in  tantain  erupisse  vecordiam,  ut  Diaconos  Fresbyleris,  id  est  Episco- 
pis,  antefeiret.  Nam  cum  Apostolus  perspicue  doceat,  eosdem  esse 
Fresbyteros  quos  Episcopos,  quid  patitur  mensarum  et  viduaram  min- 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  185 

Here  the  presbyters  themselves  elect  one  of  their  number 
and  make  him  a  bishop,  so  that  even  the  bishop  is  ordained 
by  the  presbyters,  if  indeed  it  can  be  called  an  ordination; 
if  not,  then  he  is  only  a  presbyter  still,  having  no  other 
right  to  ordain  than  they  themselves  have.     Such,  Jerome 

ister,  ut  supra  eos  se  tumidus  efferat,  ad  quorum  preces  Christi  cor- 
pus sanguisque  conficitur  ?  Quaeris  auctoritatem  ?  Audi  testimo- 
nium. Paulus  et  Timothcus,  servi  lesu  Christi^  omnibus  Sanctis  in 
Chrislo  lesUf  qui  sunt  P/tilippis,  cvm  Episcopis  ct  Diaconis.  Vis  et 
aliud  exemplum  ?  In  Actlbus  Apostolorum  ad  unius  Ecclesiae  sa- 
cerdotes  ita  Paulus  loquitur  :  Jittcndite  tuobis  et  cvncto  gregi,  in  quo 
vos  Spiritus  Sanctus  posuit  Episcopos,  ut  regeretis  Ecclesiatn  Dowini^ 
quam  acqvisivit  sanguine  suo.  Ac  ne  quis  cor\tentiose  in  una  Eccle- 
sia  plures  Episcopos  fuisse  contendat,  audi  et  aliud  testimonium,  in 
quo  manifestissime  comprobatur,  eundem  esse  Episcopum  atque  Pres- 
byterum.  Propter  hoc  reliqui  te  in  Creta,  ut,  quae  deerant,  corrigeres^ 
et  constitucres  Preshytcros  per  civitates,  sicut  et  ego  tibi  mandavi. 
Si  quis  est  sine  crimine,  unius  uxoris  vir,  jilios  habens  fideles,  non  in 
accusatione  (nxuriae,  aut  non  subditos.  Oportet  enini  Episcopum  sine 
crimine  cssc^  quasi  Dei  dispensatortm.  Et  ad  Timotheum :  J^oli 
negligere  gratiam,  quae  in  te  est,  quae  tibi  data  est  prophetae,  per  im- 
positionem  munuum  Presbyterii.  Sed  et  Petrus  in  prima  epistola : 
Presbytcros,  inquit,  in  vobis  precor  compresbyter  et  testis  passionum 
Christi  etfuturae  gloriae,  quae  revelanda  est,  particeps,  regere  gregem 
Christi,  et  inspicere  non  ex  necessitate,  sed  voLuntarie  iuxta  Deum. 
Quod  quidem  graece  significant! us  dicitur  iTrtaxoTrovVTeg,  id  est  su- 
perintendentes,  unde  et  nomen  Episcopi  tractum  est.  Parva  tibi  vi- 
dentur  tantorum  vivorum  testimonia .''  Clangat  tuba  evangelica,  Al- 
ius tonitrui,  quem  lesus  amavit  plurimum,  qui  de  pectore  salvatoris 
doctrinarum  fluenta  potavit :  Presbyter  Electae  Dominae  et  filiis  eius, 
quos  ego  ditigo  in  veritale.  Et  in  alia  epistola  :  Presbyter  Caio  Curis- 
sirno,  quem.  ego  diligo  in  veritate.  Quod  autem  postea  unus  electus 
est,  qui  ceteris  praeponeretur,  in  schismatis  remedium  factum  est,  ne 
unusquisque  ad  se  trahens  Christi  Ecclesiam  rumperet.  Nam  Alex- 
andriae  a  Marco  Evangelista  usque  ad  Heraclam  et  Dionysium  Epis- 
copos Presbyteri  semper  unum  ex  se  electum  in  excelsiori  gradu  col- 
locatum  Episcopum  nominabant,  quomodo  si  exercitus  Imperatorem 
faciat,  aut  Diaconi  eligant  de  se  quem  industrium  noverint  et  Archi- 
diaconum  vocent.  Quid  enim  facit  excepta  ordinatione  Episcopus, 
quod  Presbyter  non  faciat  ? — Ep.  ad  Evang.  101  alias  85.  p.  802. 

16* 


186  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

assures  ns,  is  the  usage  **  in  ex^cry  country. ^^  There  was  but 
one  ordination  for  bishops  and  presbyters  in  his  time,  though 
bishops  had  now  begun  exclusively  to  administer  it.  But 
we  hive  a  stream  of  testimonies  coming  down  to  us  from 
the  time  of  the  apostles,  that  it  had  been  the  custom  of  the 
church  from  the  beginning,  for  bishops  and  presbyters  to  re- 
•ceive  the  same  ordination.  This  is  another  consideration  of 
much  importance,  to  show  that  presbyters  were  entitled  to 
ord  liri.  Having  themselves  received  Episcopal  ordination, 
as  truly  as  the  bishops,  they  were  equally  qualified  to  admin- 
ister the  same. 

But  Jerome  himself  attributes  to  presbyters  the  original 
right  of  ordination.  "  Priests  who  baptize,  and  administer 
the  eucharist,  anoint  with  oil,  impose  hands,  instruct  cate- 
chumens, constitute  Levites  and  otliers  priests,  have  less 
reason  to  take  offence  at  us, explaining  these  things,  or  at 
the  prophets  foretelling  them',' than  to  ask  of  the  Lord  for- 
giveness." 

The  relevancy  of  this  passage  depends  upon  the  question 
who  are  the  sacerdotes,  priests,  of  whom  Jerome  speaks. 
He  is  commenting  upon  Zephaniah  3:  3.  Her  princes  with- 
in her,  are  roaring  lions,  by  which  he  understands  her />nVs#5, 
saying,  '*  I  am  aware,  that  I  shall  offend  many  because  I  in- 
terpret these  things  as  said  of  bishops  and  presbyters. "94 
Then,  after  remarking,  at  length,  upon  this  degenerate 
priesthood,  he  adds  the  sentence  above.  Jerome,  therefore, 
ascribes  to  presbyters  and  bishops  alike,  the  same  right  to  con- 
stitute "  Levites  and  others  priests,"  applying  the  terras,  not 

^^  Scio  ofTensurum  me  esse  plurimos  quod  super  episcopis  et  pres- 
byteris  haec  interpreter.  .  .  .  Sacerdotes  qui  dant  baptismum  et  ad  eu- 
charistiam  Domini  uniprecantur  adventum,  faciunt  oleum  chr'snia- 
tis,  mnnus  impnnunt,  catechunienos  erudiunt,  f^evitas  et  alios  con- 
stituunl  sacerdotes,  non  tarn  indignentur  nobis  hsEC  exponentihus  et 
prophetis  vaticinantibus,  quam  Dominum  deprecentur. — Tom.  3.  pp. 
1672,  167;?. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  187 

to  the  Jewish  priesthood,  hut  to  the  clergy  of  the  Christian 
church  in  his  day,  and  including  both  bishops  and  presbyters 
under  the  same  category,  as  possessing  equal  rights  to  bap- 
tize, to  ordain,  and  to  administer  the  sacraments. 

Thiit  the  right  of  ordination  belonged  to  presbyters,  is 
evident  from  the  authority  of  Eutychius,  of  Alexandria,  the 
most  distinguished  writer  among  the  Arabian  Christians  of 
the  tenth  century.  His  authority  confirms  the  testimony  of 
Jerome,  while  it  illustrates  more  clearly  the  usage  of  the 
church  in  Egypt.  The  citation  with  the  translation  is  from 
Goode.  This  author  with  reference  to  Eutychius  says,  "  His 
words  are  these;  after  mentioning  that  Mark  the  Evangelist 
went  and  preached  at  Alexandria,  and  appointed  Hananias 
the  first  patriarch  there,  he  adds:  'Moreover  he  appointed 
twelve  presbyters  with  Hananias,  who  weie  to  remain  with 
the  Patriarch,  so  that,  when  the  Patriarchate  was  vacant, 
they  might  elect  one  of  the  twelve  presbyters,  upon  whose 
head  the  other  eleven  might  place  their  hands  and  bless  him 
[or,  invoke  a  blessing  upon  him],  and  create  him  Patriarch, 
and  then  choose  some  excellent  man  and  appoint  him  pres- 
byter with  themselves  in  the  place  of  him  who  was  thus 
made  Patriarch,  that  thus  there  might  always  be  twelve. 
Nor  did  this  custom  respecting  the  presbyters,  namely,  that 
they  should  create  their  Patriarchs  from  the  twelve  presby- 
ters, cense  at  Alexandria  until  the  times  of  Alexander,  Pa- 
triarch of  Alexandria,  who  was  of  the  number  of  the  318 
[bishops  at  Nice].  But  he  forbade  the  presbyters  to  create 
the  Patriarch  for  the  future,  and  decreed  that  when  the  Pa- 
triarch was  dead,  the  bishops  should  meet  together  and  or- 
dain the  Patriarch.  Moreover  he  decreed  that  on  a  vacancy 
of  the  Patriarchate  they  should  elect,  either  from  any  part 
of  the  country,  or  from  those  twelve  presbyters,  or  others,  as 
circumstances  might  prescribe,  some  excellent  man  and 
create  him  Patriarch.  And  thus  that  ancient  custom  by 
which  the  Patriarch  used  to  be  created  by  the  presbyters  dis- 


188  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

appeared,  and  in  its  place  succeeded  the  ordinance  for  the 
creation  of  the  Patriarch  by  the  bishops.'^s 

"  I  have  given  this  passage  in  full,  because  it  has  been 
sometimes  replied  that  it  referred  only  to  the  election  of  the 
Patriarch,  and  that  we  must  suppose  that  he  was  afterwards 
consecrated  to  his  office  by  bishops.  But  it  is  evident  to 
any  one  who  takes  the  whole  passage  together,  that  such  an 
explanation  is  altogether  inadmissible ;  and  moreover,  the 
very  same  word  (which,  following  Selden,  we  have  translated 
created)  is  used  with  respect  to  the  act  of  the  presbyters,  as 
is  afterwards  used  with  respect  to  the  act  of  the  bishops  in 
the  appointment. 

*'  I  am  quite  aware  that  very  considerable  learning  has 
been  employed  in  the  attempt  to  explain  away  this  passage, 
and  the  reader  who  wishes  to  see  how  a  plain  statement  may 
thus  be  darkened,  may  refer  to  the  works  mentioned  be- 
low."96 

^^  The  following  is  Selden 's  translation  of  the  passage  from  the 
Arabic  : — "  Constituit  item  Marcus  Evangelista  duodecim  Presbyte- 
ros  cum  Hanania,  qui  nempe  manerent  cum  Patriarchal,  adeo  ul  cum 
vacaret  Patriarchatus,  eligerent  unum  e  duodecim  Presbyteris  cujus 
capiti  reliqui  undecim  manus  imponerent  eumque  benedicerent  et 
Fatriarcharn  eum  crearent,  et  dein  virum  aliquera  insignem  eligerent 
eumque  Presbyterura  secum  constituerent  loco  ejus  qui  sic  faclus  est 
Patriarcha,  ut  ita  semper  extarent  duodecim.  Neque  desiit  Alexan- 
driae  institutum  hoc  de  Presbyteris,  ut  scilicet  Patriarchas  crearent  ex 
Presbyteris  duodecim,  usque  ad  tempora  Alexandri  Patriarchae  Alex- 
andrini  qui  fuit  ex  numero  illo  cccxviii.  Is  autera  vetuit  ne  deinceps 
Patriarchara  Presbyteri  crearent.  Et  decrevit  ut  mortuo  Patriarcha 
convenirent  Episcopi  qui  Patriarcham  ordinarent.  Decrevit  item  ut, 
vacante  Patriarchatu,  eligerent  sive  ex  quacunque  regione,  sive  ex 
duodecim  illis  Presbyteris,  sive  aliis,  ut  res  ferebat,  virum  aliquem 
eximium,  eumque  Patriarcham  crearent.  Atque  ita  evanuit  institu- 
tum illud  antiquius,  quo  creari  solitus  a  Presbyteris  Patriarchia,  et 
Buccessit  in  locum  ejus  decretum  de  Patriarcha  ab  Episcopis  creando," 
Eutych.  Pair.  Alex.  EcdesicB  su(b  orig.  Ed.  J.  Selden.  London,  1642. 
4to.  pp.  29—31. 

96  See  Abr.  Echell.  Eutychius  Vindicatus,  Morinus  De  Ordinal 
Renaudot.  Hist.  Patriarch  Alex. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  189 

Gieseler  pertinently  remarks,  in  regard  to  it,  that  "it  is  at 
least  certain  that  the  part  which  is  contradictory  to  the  usage 
of  later  times  has  not  been  interpolated ;  and  so  far  it  has 
an  historical  value."97 

The  right  of  presbyters  to  ordain,  and  the  validity  of  pres- 
byterian  ordination,  was  never  called  in  qtiestion,  according 
to  Planck,  until  the  bishops  began,  about  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  to  assert  the  doctrine  of  the  apostolical  suc- 
cession. "  With  the  name  it  seemed  desirable  also  to  inherit 
the  authority  of  the  apostles.  For  this  purpose  they  availed 
themselves  of  the  right  of  ordination.  The  right  of  ordi- 
nation of  course  devolved  exclusively  upon  the  bishops  as 
alone  competent  rightly  to  administer  it.  As  they  had  been 
duly  constituted  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  so  also  had 
they  alone  the  right  to  communicate  the  same  in  part  or  fully, 
by  the  imposition  of  hands.  From  this  time  onward,  to  give 
the  rite  more  effect,  it  was  administered  with  more  imposing 
solemnity."  And  in  all  probability  it  became  customary  at 
this  early  period  to  utter  in  the  laying  on  of  hands,  those 
words  of  prelatical  arrogance  and  shocking  irreverence, '  Re- 
ceive the  Holy  Ghost'  for  the  office  and  work  of  a  bishop.^s 

Dr.  Neander  has  assured  the  writer,  in  conversation  on 
this  point,  that  beyond  a  doubt  presbyters  were  accustomed 
to  ordain  in  the  ages  immediately  succeeding  the  apos- 
tles. The  testimony  of  Firmilian,  given  above,  is,  accord- 
ing to  Neander,  explicit  in  confirmation  of  this  fact,  and 
the  same  sentiments  are  also  expressed  or  implied  in  his  works. 
If  further  evidence  is  needed  on  this  point,  it  is  given  at  length 
and  with  great  ability  by  Blondell,  who,  after  occupying  one 
hundred  quarto  pages  with  the  argument,  sums  up  the  re- 
sult of  the  discussion  in  the  following  syllogism : 

97  Cited  ill  the  author's  Christian  Antiquities,  p.  103.  In  addition 
to  the  authors  mentioned  above,  by  Goode,  are  Le  Quien  and  Peta- 
vius.  Coinp.  also,  Neander,  Allgem.  Gesch.  1.  S.  *^25,  326,  2d  edit., 
Note.     J.  F.  Rehkopf,  Vitae  Patrlarchaium  Alexandr.  fasc.  I  and  II. 

98  Planck,  Gesell.  Verfass.  1.  S.  158—161. 


190 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


"  To  whom  the  usage  of  the  church  has  assigned,  in  reali- 
ty, the  same  functions,  to  them,  it  has  also  from  the  begin- 
ning ascribed  the  same  ministerial  parity,  and  of  course,  the 
same  dignity. 

"  But  the  usage  of  the  church  has  assigned  to  bishops  and 
presbyters,  in  reality,  the  same  functions  in  the  right  of  con- 
firmation, of  dedication  of  churches,  of  taking  the  veil,  of  the 
reconciling  of  penitents,  and  in  the  ordination  of  presbyters, 
deacons,  etc. 

*'  Therefore,  it  has,  from  the  beginning,  declared  that  bish- 
ops and  presbyters,  are  in  all  respects  equal,  and  of  necessity, 
that  they  are  the  same  in  dignity  or  rank."99 

Even  the  decrees  of  ecclesiastical  councils  which  restrict 
the  right  of  ordination  to  the  bishops  alone,  distinctly  imply 
that  from  the  beginning  it  was  not  so  limited.  Why  deny  to 
presbyters  the  right  to  ordain,  by  a  formal  decree,  if  they  had 
never  enjoyed  that  right?  The  prohibition  is  an  evident  re- 
striction of  their  early  prerogatives. 

But  we  forbear;  enough  has  been  said  to  vindicate  the 
right  of  presbyters  to  ordain,  and  to  perform  all  the  functions 
of  the  ministerial  office.  Indeed,  we  cannot  but  wonder  that 
it  should  ever  have  been  called  in  question.  How  extraordi- 
nary the  hardihood  with  which,  in  the  face  of  authorities  a 
thousand  times  collated  and  repeated,  we  are  still  told  that 
"the  idea  of  ordination,  by  any  but  bishops  was  an  unheard- 
of  thing  in  the  primitive  church. "i^o  The  burden  of  proof 
rests  with  overwhelming  weight  upon  those  who  venture  on 
such  assertions.  This  idea  is  forcibly  presented  by  Dr.  Miller, 
in  the  following  extract,  with  which  we  close  this  review  of 

^  Apologia  pro  sententia  Ilieronomi  de  Episcopis  et  presbyteris. 
Amstelod.  1616,  4to. 

100  u  go  much  for  the  idea  of  any  but  bishops  ordaining  in  the  prim- 
itive church.  Never  was  this  allowed  before  the  Reformation  ;  either 
in  the  church,  or  by  any  sect  however  wild  !" — Review  of  Coleman's 
Christian  Antiquities,  by  H.  W.  D.  a  presbyter  in  Philadelphia. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  191 

the  authority  of  the  fathers  on  the  point  now  under  con- 
sideration. 

**  The  friends  of  prelacy  have  often,  and  with  much  appar- 
ent confidence,  challenged  us  to  produce  out  of  all  the  early 
fathers,  a  single  instance  of  an  ordination  performed  hy pres- 
byters. Those  who  give  this  challenge  might  surely  be  ex- 
pected in  all  decency  and  justice,  to  have  a  case  of  Episcopal 
ordination  ready  to  be  brought  forward,  from  the  same  vene- 
rable records.  But  have  they  ever  produced  such  a  case  1 
They  have  not.  Nor  can  they  produce  it.  As  there  is  un- 
questionably, no  instance  mentioned  in  Scripture  of  any  per- 
son, with  the  title  of  bishop^  performing  an  ordination  ;  so  it 
is  equally  certain  that  no  such  instance  has  yet  been  found 
in  any  Christian  writer  within  the  Jirst  two  centuries.  Nor 
can  a  single  instance  be  produced  of  a  person,  already  or- 
dained as  a  presbyter,  receiving  a  new  and  second  ordination 
as  bishop.  To  find  a  precedent  favorable  to  their  doctrine, 
the  advocates  of  Episcopacy  have  been  under  the  necessity 
of  wandering  into  periods  when  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel 
had  in  a  considerable  degree,  given  place  to  the  devices  of 
men;  and  when  the  man  of  sin  had  commenced  that  system 
of  unhallowed  usurpation,  which  for  so  many  centuries  cor- 
rupted and  degraded  the  church  of  God. 

"  Such  is  the  result  of  the  appeal  to  the  early  fathers.  They 
are  so  far  from  giving  even  a  semblance  of  support  to  the 
Episcopal  claim,  that,  like  the  Scriptures,  they  everywhere 
speak  a  language  wholly  inconsistent  with  it,  and  favorable 
only  to  the  doctrine  of  ministerial  parity.  What  then  shall 
we  say  of  the  assertions  so  often  and  so  confidently  made, 
that  the  doctrine  of  a  superior  order  of  bishops^  has  been 
maintained  in  the  church,  *  from  the  earliest  ages,'  in  *  the 
ages  immediately  succeeding  the  apostles,'  and  '  by  all  the 
fathers  from  the  beginning?'  What  shall  we  say  of  the  as- 
sertion, that  the  Scriptures,  interpreted  by  the  writings  of  the 
early  father  Sy  decidedly  support  the  same  doctrine?     I  will 


192  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

only  say,  that  those  who  find  themselves  able  to  justify  such 
assertions,  must  have  been  much  more  successfiil  in  dis- 
covering early  authorities  in  aid  of  their  cause,  than  the 
most  diligent,  learned,  and  keen-sighted  of  their  prede- 
cessors. "^^'^ 

We  have  even  high  Episcopal  authority  for  presbyierian 
ordination.  Repugnant  as  is  this  view  of  ordination  to  the 
modern  advocates  of  Kpiscopacy,  it  accords  with  the  senti- 
ments of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  and  the  first  protestant  bish- 
ops of  the  church  of  England.  The  following  extract  from 
a  highly  interesting  document  contains  the  answer  of  that 
venerable  prelate  himself,  to  certain  questions  propounded  to 
a  select  assembly  at  Windsor  Castle,  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
the  sixth. 

"  A  bishop  may  make  a  priest  by  the  Scriptures,  and  so 
may  princes  and  governors  alsoe,  and  that  by  the  auctority 
of  God  committed  to  them,  and  the  people  alsoe  by  their  elec- 
tion. For  as  we  reade  that  bishops  have  done  it,  so  Chris- 
tian emperors  and  princes  usually  have  done  it.  And  the 
people  before  Christian  princes  were,  commonly  did  elect 
their  bishops  and  priests.  In  the  New  Testament,  he  that  is 
appointed  to  be  a  bishop  or  a  priest,  needeth  no  consecration 
by  the  Scripture  ;  for  election  or  appointing  thereto  is  suffi- 
cient."^02 

i"i  Miller's  Letters,  pp.  108,  109. 

'°2  See  transcript  of"  the  whole  of  the  original,  which  was  sub- 
scribed with  Craniner's  own  hand,  in  Bish'>p  Stiilingfleet's  Irenlrum, 
Part  II.  c.  7.  §  2.  See  also,  Burnet's  History  of  the  Ilcfarmation,  V. 
J,  pp.  318,  3'<il.  Cited  from  Conder's  Nonconformity.  Many  other 
authorities  from  English  writers  are  given  in  S.  Mather's  Apology 
for  the  Liberty  of  the  Churches,  Chap.  2.  p.  51 .  They  have  also  been 
collected,  and  collated  w'.th  great  industry  and  research,  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Smyth,  in  his  Apostolicnl  Successicn,  and  his  Presbytery  not  Prelacy. 
So,  also,  in  an  article  in  the  Chrislian  Spectator,  New  Series,  Vol  IL 
p.  720,  from  whence  several  of  the  authorities  given  below  are  taken. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  193 

A  volume  might  be  filled  with  authorities  from  the  Eng- 
lish church  alone,  in  which  both  her  most  distinguishe<i 
prelates  and  her  most  eminent  scholars  concede  to  pres- 
byters a  virtual  equality  with  bishops,  and  the  right  to> 
ordain. 

The  Necessary  Erudition  of  a  Christian  Man,  drawn  up^ 
with  great  care,  approved  by  both  houses  of  Parliament  in' 
1543,  and  prefaced  by  an  epistle  from  the  king  himself,  de- 
clares, that,  *'  priests  [presbyters']  and  bishops  are,  by  God's 
law,  one  and  the  same ;  and  that  the  powers  of  ordination 
and  excommunication  belong  equally  to  both."  Under  Eliz- 
abeth it  was  enacted  by  parliament,  'Uhat  the  ordination  of 
foreign  churches  should  be  held  valid." 

The  learned  Whittaker,  of  Cambridge,  declares  the  doc- 
trine of  the  reformers  to  be,  that  *'  presbyters,  being  by  divine 
right  the  same  as  bishops,  they  might  warrantably  set  other 
presbyters  over  the  churches." 

Archbishop  Usher,  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  on  being  asked  by  Charles  I,  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  whether  he  found  in  antiquity  that  ^'presbyters  alone 
did  ordain  ?"  answered,  ^^yes^"  and  that  he  would  show  his 
Majesty  more — "  even  where  presbyters  alone  successively 
ordained  bishops ;"  and  he  brought  as  an  instance  of  this,  the 
presbyters  of  Alexandria  choosing  and  making  their  own 
bishop,  from  the  days  of  Mark  till  Heraclas  and'  Dionysius* 

Bishop  Stillingfleet  says,  *'  It  is  acknowledged  by  the  stout- 
est champions  of  Episcopacy,  before  these  late  unhappy  divi- 
sions, that  ordination  performed  by  presbyters  in  case  of  ne- 
cessity is  valid." 

Bishop  Forbes.  "  Presbyters  have  by  divine  right  the 
power  of  ordaining  as  well  as  of  preaching  and  baptizing." 

Sir  Peter  King,  Lord  Chancellor  of  England,  after  assert- 
ing the  equality  of  bishops  and  presbyters,  and  showing  at 
length,  that  the  latter  had  full  authority  to  administer  the  or- 
dinances, adds,  *'  As  for  ordination,  I  find  clearer  proofs  of 
17 


1^^  "^(^Nl'         '^^^  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

■*  i    .    . 

presbyters  ordaining,  than  of  their  administering  the  Lord's 
supper." 

The  first  reformers,  under  the  reign  of  King  Edward,  ac- 
cording to  Neal,  in  his  history  of  the  Puritans,  "  believed  but 
two  orders  of  churchmen  in  holy  Scripture — bishops  and  dea- 
cons; and  consequently,  that  bishops  and  priests  [presby- 
ters] were  but  different  ranks  or  degrees  of  the  same  order." 
Acting  on  this  principle,  "  they  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship to  foreign  churches,  and  to  ministers  who  had  not  been 
ordained  by  bishops." 

The  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  bishops,  from  which  that 
of  the  exclusive  validity  of  their  ordination  proceeds,  was  first 
promulgated  in  a  sermon  preached  Jan.  12, 1588  in  the  Eng- 
lish by  Dr.  Bancroft.  He  first  maintained  that  bishops  are  a 
distinct  order  from  priests  or  presbyters,  and  have  authority 
over  them  J2ire  divino,  and  directly  from  God.  This  bold  and 
novel  assertion  created  a  great  sensation  throughout  the  king- 
dom. It  was  a  vast  extension  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  bish- 
ops, by  which  the  oppression  of  the  Puritans  was  increased 
to  an  incalculable  degree.  *'  The  greater  part  even  of  the 
prelatic  party  themselves  were  startled  by  the  novelty  of  the 
doctrine  ;  for  none  of  the  English  reformers  had  ever  regard- 
ed the  bishops  as  anything  else  but  a  human  institution,  ap- 
pointed for  the  more  orderly  government  of  the  church  ;  and 
they  were  not  prepared  at  once  to  condemn  as  heretical  all 
churches  where  that  institution  did  not  exist.  Whitgift  him- 
self, perceiving  the  use  which  might  be  made  of  such  a  tenet 
said  that  the  doctor's  sermon  had  done  much  good, — though 
for  his  own  part,  he  rather  wished  than  believed  it  to  be 
true."!^  The  doctrine  was  re-affirmed  half  a  century  later 
by  Laud  and  his  party  ;^^^  and  from  that  time  has  been  the 
favorite  dogma  of  many  in  the  Episcopal  church. 

Even  at  the  present  time  the  validity  of  presbyterian  ordi- 

^'^  Hitherton's  History  of  the  Westminster,  pp.  49,  50. 
W4  Hallam's  Constitutional  History,  Vol.  II.  pp.  440—1. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  195 

nation  is  acknowledged  by  many  in  the  Episcopal  church. 
Not  twenty  years  since,  one  of  the  principal  conductors  of 
the  Christian  Observer  said  to  an  American  gentleman,  "  I 
have  not  for  ten  years  seen  the  man  who  was  so  utterly  fool-'^ 
ish,  as  to  claim  any  exclusive  divine  right  for  our  ordination, 
or  ordinances;  or  who  hesitated  to  acknowledge  other  com- 
munions as  churches  of  Christ." 

And  Goode  also,  who  has  written  from  Cambridge,  with 
great  ability  against  the  Tractarians,  says : — "  I  admit  that 
for  the  latter  point  [ordination  by  bishops  alone,  as  successors 
of  the  apostles],  there  is  not  any  Scripture  proof;  but  we 
shall  find  here,  as  in  other  cases,  that  as  the  proof  is  not  to 
be  found  in  Scripture,  so  antiquity  also  is  divided  with  re- 
spect to  it ;  and  moreover,  that  though  it  is  the  doctrine  of 
our  church,  yet  that  it  is  held  by  her  with  an  allowance  for 
those  who  may  differ  from  her  on  that  point,  and  not  as  if 
the  observance  of  it  was  requisite  by  divine  command,  and 
essential  to  the  validity  of  all  ordinations;  though  for  the 
preservation  of  the  full  ecclesiastical  reg\i\B,r\iy  of  her  own  or- 
ders, she  has  made  it  essential  to  the  ministers  of  her  own 
communion. "i^^^  In  support  of  this  opinion  he  proceeds  to 
enumerate  many  of  the  authorities  of  the  fathers  given 
above. 

Finally,  we  add  the  following  extract,  not  again  from  an 
"  irreverent  dissenter," — to  use  the  flippant  cant  of  one  of  the 
Tractarians, — but  from  a  devoted  son  of  their  own  church,  a 
distinguished  layman  of  England,  who  has  written  with  great 
ability  and  good  effect,  against  the  doctrines  of  Puseyism  and 
the  high  church  party. 

**  It  is  no  part  of  my  plan  to  trace  the  origin  or  course  of 
departure  from  the  system  of  church  government  in  the  apos- 
tolical times,  as  it  lies  before  us  in  all  its  simplicity.  I  admit 
— indeed,  as  the  lawyers  say,  it  is  a  part  of  my  case — that 
some  change  was  unavoidable;  and  I  see  nothing  in  the 

»o-^  Divine  Rule,  Vol.  11.  pp.  57,  58, 


196  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

present  constitution  of  the  church  of  England  that  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  principle  of  the  apostles.  But  to  say  that 
they  are  identical,  is  a  mere  abuse  of  words.  Still  less  is  it 
to  be  heard  say  without  some  impatience,  that  there  is 
safety  in  her  communion  only  as  she  has  descended  from 
the  apostles,  through  all  the  changes  and  abominations  that 
have  intervened. "106 

After  going  through  with  a  sketch  of  the  historical  argu- 
ment in  defence  of  his  sentiments  and  citing  many  of  the  au- 
thorities given  above,  he  proceeds  : — "  I  am  aware  that  in  St. 
Jerome's  time  there  existed  generally,  though  by  no  means 
universally,  this  difference  between  the  bishop  and  the  pres- 
byters, viz.,  that  to  the  former  was  then  confided  the  power 
of  ordination.  The  transition  from  perfect  equality  to  abso- 
lute superiority  was  not  suddenly  effected  ;  it  was  the  growth 
of  time;  not  of  years,  but  of  centuries;  the  distinction  of  au- 
thority or  office  preceding  that  of  order  or  degree  in  the 
church,  and  being  introductory  to  it.  With  the  former  I 
have  no  concern,  it  being  sufficient  to  show,  that  as  a  distinct 
and  superior  order  in  the  church.  Episcopacy,  in  the  modern 
acceptation  of  the  term,  did  not  exist  in  the  time  of  the  apos- 
tles ;  and  that,  however  expedient  and  desirable  such  an  in- 
stitution might  be,  it  cannot  plead  the  sanction  of  apostolic 
appointment  or  example.  It  may  be  difficult  to  fix  the  period 
exactly  when  the  Episcopate  was  first  recognized  as  a  dis- 
tinct order  in  the  church,  and  when  the  consecration  of  bish- 
ops, as  such,  came  to  be  in  general  use.  Clearly  not,  I  think 
when  St.  Jerome  wrote.  Thus  much  at  least  is  certain,  viz. 
that  the  government  of  each  church,  including  the  ordination 
of  ministers,  was  at  first  in  the  hands  of  the  presbytery;  that 
when  one  of  that  body  was  raised  to  the  office  of  president, 
and  on  whom  the  title  of  bishop  was  conferred,  it  was  simply 
by  the  election  (co-optatio)  of  the  other  presbyters,  whose 
appointment  was  final,  requiring  no  confirmation  or  conse- 

»06  Bowdler's  Letters,  pp.  32,  33. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  197 

cration  at  the  hands  of  any  other  prelates ;  and  that  each 
church  was  essentially  independent  of  every  other. 

**  If  then  all  this  be  so,  there  seems  to  be  an  end  to  the 
question ;  for  under  whatever  circumstances  the  privilege  of 
ordaining  was  afterwards  committed  to  the  bishop,  he  could 
of  necessity  receive  no  more  than  it  was  in  their  power  to 
bestow,  from  whom  he  received  it,  who  were  co-ordinate 
presbyters,  not  superiors.  At  whatever  period,  therefore,  it 
was  adopted,  and  with  whatever  uniformity  it  might  be  con- 
tinued, and  whatever  of  value  or  even  authority  it  might 
hence  acquire  ;  still  as  an  apostolical  institution  it  has  none : 
there  is  a  gap  which  never  can  be  filled  ;  or  rather,  the  link 
by  which  the  whole  must  be  suspended  is  wanting  and  can 
never  be  supplied.  There  can  be  no  apostolical  succession 
of  that  which  had  no  apostolical  existence  ;  whereas  the  aver- 
ment to  be  of  any  avail  must  be,  not  only  that  it  existed  in 
the  time  of  the  apostles,  but  was  so  appointed  by  them  as  that 
there  can  be  no  true  church  without  it.''^^^ 

The  right  of  presbyters,  then,  to  ordain,  is  admitted  by 
moderate  Episcopalians  even  at  the  present  time.i^^  It  was 
maintained  by  the  reformers  generally,  both  in  England,  and 
on  the  continent.  It  was  their  undoubted  prerogative  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  Christian  church. 

To  sum  up  all  that  has  been  said — if  presbyters  and  bish- 
ops are  known  by  the  same  names,  if  they  are  required  to 
possess  the  same  qualifications,  and  if  they  are  found  actual- 
ly discharging  the  same  duties,  then  what  higher  evidence 
can  we  expect  or  desire  of  their  equality  and  identity?  This 
course  of  argumentation  is  precisely  similar  to  that  by 
which  orthodoxy  defends  the  supreme  divinity  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  his  equality  with  the  Father.  And  none 
perhaps   more  readily   admit  the  validity  of  this  mode  of 


'07  Bowdler's  Letters,  pp.  48—50. 
Cing 

17* 


'08  Comp.  Whately's  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp.  151,  212. 


198  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

argument,  when  applied  to  this  cardinal  principle  in  the  Chris- 
tian system,  than  the  members  of  the  Episcopal  communion. 
What  is  the  argument  for  the  oneness  of  Christ  with  the  Fa- 
ther ?  Simply  that  he  is  called  by  the  names,  that  he  pos- 
•sesses  the  attributes,  that  he  receives  the  honors  and  performs 
the  works  of  the  Father;  and,  therefore,  is  one  with  Him. 
If,  then,  this  course  of  reasoning  commands  our  assent  in  these 
profound  mysteries,  why  not  much  more  in  the  case  under 
consideration?  We  confidently  rest,  in  the  conclusion  of 
the  learned  Dr.  Wilson,  that  "  whatever  misconstructions  of 
the  presbyterial  office  may  have  obtained,  it  is  and  always 
will  be,  the  highest  ordinary  office  in  the  Christian  church  ; 
and  no  presbyter,  who  is  officially  such,  can  be  less  than  a 
bishop,  and  authorized  to  instruct,  govern,  and  administer, 
and  ordain  at  least  in  conjunction  with  his  co-presbyters  of 
the  same  presbytery  and  council." 

4.  Bishops  themselves,  in  their  ministerial  character,  ex- 
ercised only  the  jurisdiction,  and  performed  merely  the  of- 
fices, of  presbyters  in  the  primitive  church. 

For  the  sake  of  argument,  let  us  admit  "  that  this  office 
of  bishop  is  disclosed  to  us  in  the  Christian  church  in  the 
very  earliest  records  of  history.  Within  ten  years  after  the 
death  of  St.  John,  we  find  that  the  three  orders  of  ministers 
were  actually  denominated  bishop,  priest  and  deacon  ;  and 
to  each  was  assigned  the  same  office,  together  with  nearly 
the  same  power  and  duty  as  appertain  to  them  at  the  present 
day.  Hear  how  Ignatius  speaks  to  the  Philadelphians  :  'At- 
tend to  the  bishop,  and  to  the  presbytery,  and  to  the  dea- 
cons.' "^09  Such  is  the  exultation  with  which  Episcopalians 
appeal  to  Ignatius.  It  is  indeed  clear  beyond  a  doubt,  that 
this  writer  does  speak  of  bishops,  presbyters  and  deacons ; 
and  that,  in  strains  almost  of  profane  adulation,  he  seeks  to 
«xalt  the  authority  both  of  bishops  and  presbyters.     But  the 

i"9  Bishop  De  Lancey's  Faithful  Bishop.     Boston,  1843,  p.  17. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  199 

learned  hardly  need  to  be  reminded  that  suspicion  rests  upon 
all  these  epistles  of  Ignatius.  Many,  both  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe,  who  are  most  competent  to  decide  upon  their 
merits,  have  pronounced  them  undoubted  forgeries.  No 
confidence  can  be  placed  upon  them  as  historical  authority. 
Whether  they  really  belong  to  the  second,  third,  or  fourth 
century,  is  altogether  uncertain.  They  have  been  often  and 
carefully  canvassed  by  eminent  scholars,  both  in  America 
and  in  Europe.  Professor  Norton  declares  them  to  be  un- 
doubted forgeries.  Rothe  has  written  with  surpassing  ability 
a  defence  of  them.  But  the  most  probable  conjecture,  and 
the  one  most  generally  received,  is,  that  they  are  filled  with 
interpolations  from  various  hands,  and  of  different  dates. 
Such  is  Dr.  Neander's  opinion,  as  stated  to  the  writer  in 
conversation  upon  them. 

Milton,  after  exposing  the  absurdities,  corruptions  and  an- 
achronisms of  these  epistles,  proceeds  to  say,  "  These,  and 
other  like  passages,  in  abundance  through  all  those  short  epis- 
tles, must  either  be  adulterate,  or  else  Ignatius  was  not  Igna- 
tius, nor  a  martyr,  but  most  adulterate  and  corrupt  himself. 
In  the  midst,  therefore,  of  so  many  forgeries,  where  shall  we 
fix  to  dare  say  this  is  Ignatius  ?  As  for  his  style,  who  knows 
it,  so  disfigured  and  interrupted  as  it  is,  except  they  think  that 
where  they  meet  with  anything  sound  and  orthodoxal,  there 
they  find  Ignatius  ?  And  then  they  believe  him,  not  for  his 
own  authority,  but  for  a  truth's  sake,  which  they  derive  from 
elsewhere.  To  what  end  then  should  they  cite  him  as  au- 
thentic for  Episcopacy,  when  they  cannot  know  what  is 
authentic  in  him,  but  by  the  judgment  which  they  brought 
with  them,  and  not  by  any  judgment  which  they  might  safely 
learn  from  him  ?  How  can  they  bring  satisfaction  from  such 
an  author,  to  whose  very  essence  the  reader  must  be  fain  to 
contribute  his  own  understanding  ?  Had  God  ever  intended 
that  we  should  have  sought  any  part  of  useful  instruction 
from  Ignatius,  doubtless  he  would  not  have  so  ill  provided  for 


200  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

our  knowledge,  as  to  send  him  to  our  hands  in  this  broken 
and  disjointed  plight;  and  if  he  intended  no  such  thing,  we 
do  injuriously  in  thinking  to  taste  better  the  pure  evangelic 
manna  by  seasoning  our  mouths  with  the  tainted  scraps  and 
fragments  of  an  unknown  table,  and  searching  among  the 
verminous  and  polluted  rags  dropped  overworn  from  the  toil- 
ing shoulders  of  time,  with  these  deformedly  to  quilt  and 
interlace  the  entire,  the  spotless  and  undecaying  robe  of 
truth,  the  daughter  not  of  time,  but  of  heaven,  only  bred  up 
here  below  in  Christian  hearts  between  two  grave  and  holy 
nurses,  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  gospel."iio 

But  we  will  suppose  these  epistles  to  be  the  genuine  pro- 
ductions of  Ignatius,  and  that  he  himself  is  one  of  those 
"  apostolic  men  who  drank  in  Christianity  from  the  living 
lips  of  the  apostles  themselves."  Grant  it  all.  What  then? 
Do  not  these  epistles,  says  the  churchman,  testify  explicitly, 
clearly,  fully,  "  to  the  superiority  of  bishops  in  government 
and  ordination  over  presbyters  and  deacons  ? "  Not  in  the 
least.  What,  we  ask,  were  the  dioceses  of  these  bishops  of 
Ignatius's  epistles?  Nothing  but  single  parishes.  What 
were  these  venerable  bishops  themselves?  Nothing  more 
than  the  pastors  each  of  a  single  congregation.  They  were 
merely  parish  ministers,  parochial  bishops  ;  and,  though  bear- 
ing the  name  of  bishop,  they  were  as  unlike  a  modern  dio- 
cesan as  can  well  be  imagined.  This  fact  deserves  a  careful 
consideration.  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  with  a  name,  a 
title.  We  are  not  inquiring  after  names,  but  things.  Be- 
cause we  read  of  primitive  bishops  in  the  early  church,  must 
we  suppose  that  each,  of  necessity  claimed  the  superiority, 
or  enjoyed  the  proud  distinction  of  the  modern  dignitary  of 
the  church  bearing  the  same  title?  The  name  determines 
nothing  in  regard  to  the  official  rank  and  duties  of  a  primi- 
tive bishop.  Give  to  a  congregational  or  presbyterian  min- 
ister this  title,  and  you  have   made  him  truly  a  primitive 

""  Milton's  Prelalical  Episcopacy.     Prose  Works,  Vol.  I.  pp.79, 80. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  201 

bishop.  These  ancient  dignitaries,  down  to  the  third  cen- 
tury, and  in  many  instances,  even  later,  exercised  no  wider 
jurisdiction,  and  performed  no  higher  offices,  than  a  modern 
p  resbyter,  or  any  pastor  of  a  single  parish  or  congregation. 

In  support  of  the  foregoing  representation,  we  have  to 
offer  the  following  considerations : 

(a)  By  all  primitive  writers,  the  bishop's  charge  is  denom- 
inated invariably  a  cimrch,  a  congregation  ;  never  in  the 
plural,  churches  or  congregations. 

(b)  It  is  admitted  by  Episcopalians  themselves,  that  the 
diocese  of  a  primitive  bishop  comprised  only  a  single  church. 

(c)  The  Christians  under  the  charge  of  one  of  these  an- 
cient bishops,  were  all  accustomed  to  meet  in  one  place,  like 
the  people  of  a  modern  parish  congregation. 

(d)  All  under  his  charge  were,  in  many  instances,  as 
familiarly  known  to  the  bishop  himself,  as  are  the  people 
of  a  parish  to  their  pastor. 

(e)  So  many  bishops  were  found  in  a  single  territory,  of 
limited  extent,  that  no  one  could  have  exercised  a  jurisdic- 
tion beyond  the  bounds  of  a  single  parish. 

(f)  The  charge  of  a  primitive  bishop  is  known,  in  many 
instances,  not  to  have  equalled  that  of  a  modern  presbyter  or 
pastor. 

(a)  By  all  primitive  writers,  the  bishop's  charge  is  denom- 
inated invariably  a  church,  a  congregation;  never  in  the 
plural,  churches  or  congregations. 

The  cure  of  a  primitive  bishop  is  never,  in  a  single  in- 
stance, represented  as  comprising  several  congregations,  like 
that  of  a  modern  diocesan  ;  but  is  always  restricted  to  a 
single  body  of  Christians,  denominated  a  church.  As  the 
epistles  of  Paul  the  apostle  are  addressed  to  the  church  at 
Rome,  at  Corinth,  at  Ephesus,  etc.,  so  those  of  the  apostol- 
ical fathers,  Clement,  Polycarp  and  Ignatius  are  addressed, 


202  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

in  like  manner,  to  a  single  church  —  to  the  church  at  Co- 
rinth, at  Philippi,  at  Ephesus,  at  Smyrna,  etc.  Neither  is 
the  word  church  ever  used  by  the  early  fathers  in  a  generic 
sense,  for  a  national  or  provincial  church,  as  we  speak  of  the 
church  of  England,  or  of  Scotland.  This  fact  is  so  indis- 
putable, that  no  time  need  be  wasted  in  the  proof  of  it.  But 
it  is  worthy  of  particular  attention,  as  illustrative  of  the  na- 
ture of  a  bishop's  office.  It  presents  his  duties  and  his  office 
in  total  contrast  with  those  which  are  assigned  to  him  by 
prelacy.  It  reveals  to  us  the  primitive  bishop  as  merely  a 
parish  minister. 

"Now  as  one  bishop  is  invariably  considered,  in  the  most 
ancient  usage,  as  having  only  one  ixxXrjaiaf  it  is  manifest 
that  his  inspection  at  first  was  only  over  one  parish.  Indeed, 
the  words  congregation  and  parish  are,  if  not  synonymous, 
predicable  of  each  other.  The  former  term  relates  more 
properly  to  the  people  as  actually  congregated,  the  other  re- 
lates to  the  extent  of  ground  which  the  dwelling-houses  of 
the  members  of  one  congregation  occupy.  Accordingly,  the 
territory  to  which  the  bishop's  charge  extended,  was  always 
named,  in  the  period  I  am  speaking  of,  in  Greek  TiaQOima^ 
in  Latin  parochia,  or  rather  parcBcia,  which  answers  to  the 
English  word  parish,  and  means  properly  a  neighborhood."!^^ 

In  the  sense  above  stated,  the  word  in  question  is  said  to 
be  used  at  least  six  hundred  times  in  the  writings  of  Euse- 
bius  alone.  Such  continued  to  be  the  extent  of  the  bishop's 
charge  down  to  the  fourth  century. 

(6)  It  is  admitted  by  Episcopalians  themselves,  that  the 
diocese  of  a  primitive  bishop  comprised  only  a  single  church. 

On  this  point  the  authority  of  the  late  Dr.  Burton,  regius- 
professor  at  Oxford,  is  equally  explicit  and  unexceptionable. 
In  his  history  of  the  church  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century,  he  says :  —  "  The  term  diocese  was  not  then  known ; 

"1  Campbell's  Lectures,  pp.  106, 107. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  203 

though  there  may  have  been  instances  where  the  care  of 
more  than  one  congregation  was  committed  to  a  single  bish- 
op, of  which  we  have  a  very  early  example  in  all  the  Cretan 
churches  being  entrusted  by  Paul  to  Titus.  The  name 
which  was  generally  applied  to  the  flock  of  a  single  pastor, 
was  one  from  which  our  present  word  parish  is  derived, 
which  signified  his  superintendence  over  the  inhabitants  of 
a  particular  place. "^'^ 

Again,  at  the  commencement  of  the  third  century,  "  The 
term  diocese,  as  has  been  observed  in  a  former  chapter,  was 
of  later  introduction,  and  was  borrowed  by  the  church  from 
the  civil  constitution  of  the  empire.  At  the  period  which 
we  are  now  considering,  a  bishop's  diocese  was  more  analo- 
gous to  a  modern  parish,  and  such  was  the  name  which  it 
bore.  Each  parish  had,  therefore,  its  own  bishop,  with  a 
varying  number  of  presbyters,  or  priests  and  deacons. "ii3 

"  As  for  the  word  diocese,  by  which  the  bishop's  flock  is 
now  expressed,  I  do  not  remember  that  ever  I  found  it  used 
in  this  sense  by  any  of  the  ancients.  But  there  is  another 
word  still  retained  by  us,  by  which  they  frequently  denomi- 
nated the  bishop's  cure  ;  and  that  '\s  parish." ^^'^ 

To  the  same  effect  is  also  the  authority  of  Campbell, 
and  multitudes  of  others  not  of  the  Episcopal  communion. 
"  Every  bishop  had  but  one  congregation  or  church.  This 
is  a  remark  which  deserves  your  particular  notice ;  as  it  re- 
gards an  essential  point  in  the  constitution  of  the  primitive 
church,  a  point  which  is  generally  admitted  by  those  who 
can  make  any  pretensions  to  the  knowledge  of  Christian 
antiquities.  .  .  Now  as  one  bishop  is  invariably  considered  in 
the  most  ancient  usage  as  having  only  one  ixxXr^aia,  churchy 
it  is  manifest  that  his  inspection,  at  first,  was  only  over  one 
parish." ^ '5     Instead,  therefore,  of  presiding  over  thousands 

"2  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  p.  179.     "'  Ibid.,  pp.  263,  264. 
"4  King's  Primitive  Church,  p.  15. 
"'  Campbell's  Lectures,  pp.  105,  106. 


204  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

of  his  fellow-men  with  an  authority,  which  even  princes 
might  envy,  this  ancient  bishop  was  nothing  more  than  a 
humble  parish  minister,  having  the  charge  of  some  little  flock 
over  whom  he  had  been  duly  appointed  an  overseer  in  the 
service  of  the  chief  Shepherd. 

(c)  The  Christians,  under  the  charge  of  these  ancient 
bishops,  were  accustomed  to  meet  all  in  one  place,  like  the 
people  of  a  modern  parish  or  congregation. 

This  is  most  clearly  evident  from  the  fathers  of  the 
second,  and  even  of  the  third  century,  such  as  Ignatius, ^^ 
Justin  Martyr,  Irenaeus,  Tertullian  and  Cyprian.  "  Now, 
from  the  writings  of  those  fathers,  it  is  evident  that  the 
whole  flock  assembled  in  the  same  place  im  to  dvro,  with 
their  bishop  and  presbyters,  as  on  other  occasions,  so  in  par- 
ticular, every  Lord's-day,  or  every  Sunday,  as  it  was  com- 
monly called,  for  the  purposes  of  public  worship,  hearing  the 
Scriptures  read,  and  receiving  spiritual  exhortations.  The 
perseverance  in  this  practice  is  warmly  recommended  by  the 
ancients,  and  urged  on  all  the  Christian  brethren,  from  the 
consideration  of  the  propriety  there  is,  that  those  of  the 
same  church  and  parish,  and  under  the  same  bishop,  should 
all  join  in  one  prayer  and  one  supplication,  as  people  who 
have  one  mind  and  one  hope.  For,  it  is  argued,  *  if  the 
prayer  of  one  or  two  have  great  efficacy,  how  much  more 
efficacious  must  that  be  which  is  made  by  the  bishop  and  the 
whole  church.  He,  therefore,  who  doth  not  assemble  with 
him  is  denominated  proud  and  self-condemned. 'H'''  Again, 
as  there  was  but  one  place  of  meeting,  so  there  was  but  one 

"s  For  a  purpose  like  the  present,  we  may  safely  appeal  to  Igna- 
tius ;  for  though  the  work  may  be  reasonably  suspected  to  have  been 
interpolated  to  aggrandize  the  Episcopal  order,  it  was  never  suspected 
of  any  interpellation  with  a  view  to  lessen  it. 

"'  El  yd^  h'og  not  ^avrtQOv  TTQoasvyjj  ToaavTrjv  lO'/vv  t/si,  ttuooj 
fiaXXov  'i]  Ti  Tov  ^TTioy.LiTTOv  vial  ndoy?  itCAXrjaiag ;  O  oiiy  fiij  ^Q'/uf.is~ 
vog  inl  to  auro,  y.al  lavTov  dih.Qivsv. — Ep.  ad  Eph.  c.  5. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  205 

communion  table  or  altar,  as  they  sometimes  metaphorically- 
called  it.  *  There  is  but  one  altar,'  said  Ignatius,  *  for  there 
is  but  one  bishop;  '^^^  and  accordingly,  one  place  of  worship," 
To  this  may  be  added  the  authority  of  Stillingfleet.  "  For 
although  when  the  churches  increased,  the  occasional  meet- 
ings were  frequent  in  several  places,  yet  still  there  was  but 
one  church,  and  one  altar,  and  one  baptistry,  and  one  bishop, 
with  many  presbyters  assisting  him  ;  and  this  is  so  very  plain 
in  antiquity,  as  to  the  churches  planted  by  the  apostles  them- 
selves in  several  parts,  that  none  but  a  stranger  to  the  history 
of  the  church  can  ever  call  it  in  question. "^^9 

We  have  here  another  illustration  of  the  parochial  Epis- 
copacy, which,  in  the  ancient  church,  restricted  the  labors 
of  the  minister  of  Christ  to  a  single  church  and  congre- 
gation. 

(d)  All  under  the  bishop's  charge  were,  in  some  instances, 
as  familiarly  known  to  him  as  are  the  people  of  a  parish  to 
their  pastor. 

Polycarp,  for  example,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  is  exhorted  by 
Ignatius  to  know  all  of  his  church  by  name,  even  the  men- 
servants  and  maid-servants ;  to  take  care  of  the  widows 
within  his  diocese ;  to  take  cognizance  personally  of  all 
marriages;  and  to  suffer  nothing  to  escape   his   notice.  120 

All  this  evidently  requires  of  the  bishop  a  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  the  people  of  his  charge,  even  more  familiar,  and 
a  personal  supervision  over  them  more  minute,  than  that  of 
the  pastor  of  a  single  parish  in  any  of  our  cities.     Even  the 

118  "Ev  d'voiaar^Qiov  ojg  eU  IniGZOTtos.  Ep.  ad  Phil.  c.  8.  Camp- 
bell's Lectures,  p.  100, 

^^3  Stillingfleet,  Serm.  against  Separat.  p,  27,  cited  by  Clarkson,. 
P-  17.        ^   ^ 

120  '^1  ovofiaroc;  navra?  tijrei.  JoiiXovg  xai  Sovla?  jmj  inreQTjffd- 
ver  XiJQttt  fXTj  d/ushiad'ojGav.  U^iTtsi  St  To7g  yafiovot  xal  raig  yoe- 
fiov/Ltivatc,  /uszd  yvto/uTjg  rov  inianonov  ttjv  evojoiv  Trouiod-at.  Mi^~ 
Siv  dvsv  yvo)fi7jg  aov  yivtod'oj. — Ignatius  ad  Polycarp^  c.  4,  5. 

18 


206  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

bishop  of  Tyre  had  a  diocese  so  small  that  he  had  a  personal 
knowledge  of  every  Christian  within  it.121  Carthage,  again, 
was  one  of  the  largest  cities  in  the  world ;  and  yet  Cyprian,  the 
bishop  of  that  city,  made  it  a  duty  to  preserve  a  familiar  ac- 
quaintance with  all  his  people,  and  to  provide  for  the  needy 
and  destitute  among  them.  122  To  such  primitive  Episcopacy 
who  can  object  ? 

(e)  So  many  bishops  were  found  in  a  single  territory  of 
limited  extent,  that  no  one  could  have  exercised  jurisdiction 
beyond  the  bounds  of  a  single  parish. 

Take,  for  example,  a  single  province,  that  of  Africa ;  and 
in  doing  this,  we  are  happy  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  inqui- 
ries of  another.  "  The  testimony  of  Du  Pin  on  this  point, 
himself  a  prelatist,  is  invaluable.  He  describes,  in  the  first 
place,  the  ancient  province  of  Africa,  as  nearly  commen- 
surate with  the  modern  Barbary  States,  and  then  proceeds  to 
remark  as  follows  :  ^ 

"  '  All  this  tract,  both  before  and  after  the  subjection  of 
the  Romans,  contained  an  almost  countless  number  of  peo- 
ple. There  were  found  cities,  towns,  boroughs,  military 
stations  (castelUs),  3.nd  villages,  both  of  natives  and  colonists, 
in  great  number;  and,  by  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  abun- 
dance of  its  produce,  as  well  as  by  mercantile  trade,  it  be- 
came very  wealthy.  Hence  we  find  so  great  a  multitude  of 
Christians  in  these  regions,  to  govern  whom  were  appointed 
very  many  bishops,  far  more  numerous,  indeed,  and  nearer 
together,  than  in  some  other  parts  of  the  Christian  world. 

121  Schoene,  Geschichtsforschungen,  Bd.  III.  S.  336. 

^^^  Cumque  ego  vos  pro  me  vicarios  miserim  ut  expungeretis  ne- 
cessitates fratrum  nostrorum  sumptibus,  si  qui  vellent  suas  artes  ex- 
ercere,  additamento  quantum  satis  esset  desideria  eorum  juvaretis, 
simul  etiam  et  aetates  eorum  et  conditiones  et  merita  discerneretis  ; 
ut  etiam  nunc  ego,  cui  cura  incumbit  omnes  optimd  nosse  et  dignos 
quosque,  et  humiles  et  mites  ad  ecclesiasticae  administrationis  officia 
proraoverem. — Ep.  38.  p.  51 . 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  207 

For  in  these  parts  it  was  customary  to  appoint  bishops  not 
only  in  great  cities,  but  in  villages,  or  villas,  and  in  small 
cities  (in  vicis  aut  villis  et  in  modicis  civitatibus)  ;  which 
was  guarded  against  by  the  57th  canon  of  the  Council  of 
Laodicea,  and  the  7th  canon  of  that  of  Sardica.  But  that 
rule  obtained,  not  in  Africa,  where  it  is  on  record  that  bish- 
ops were  ordained  not  only  in  great  cities,  but  in  all  the 
towns  (in  cunctis  oppidis),  and  not  unfrequently  in  villages 
and  military  stations  {in  vicis  et  castellis) ;  which  multitude 
of  bishops'  Sees,  that  had  sprung  up,  even  from  the  very  first 
rise  of  the  African  churches,  was  increased  by  the  emula- 
tion of  the  Catholics  and  Donatists.'i23 

*'  Such  are  the  statements  of  one  of  the  learned  histor- 
ians, one  whose  judgment  is  universally  respected.  Such, 
too,  must  be  the  convictions  of  every  one  who  makes  him- 
self acquainted  with  the  surviving  documents  of  the  African 
churches.  Let  any  one  turn  over  the  pages  of  the  Minutes 
of  the  Conference  [gesta  collationis)  between  the  Catholics 
and  Donatists  at  Carthage,  in  A.  D.  411,  at  which  565  bish- 
ops were  present,  and  he  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Mons.  Du  Pin  has  told  the  truth. 

"  So  strong  is  the  evidence  from  this  quarter,  that  Bing- 
ham is  constrained  to  admit,  that  '  during  the  time  of  the 
schism  of  the  Donatists,  many  new  bishoprics  were  erected 
in  very  small  towns  in  Africa ;  as  appears  from  the  acts  of 
the  Collation  of  Carthage,  where  the  Catholics  and  Dona- 
tists mutually  charge  each  other  with  the  practice ;  that  they 
divided  single  bishoprics  sometimes  into  three  or  four;  and 
made  bishops  in  country  towns  and  villages,  to  augment  the 
numbers  of  their  parties. '^^4 

"  It  will  be  observed,  that  this  practice  was  pursued  as 

'2^  Du  Pin's  Sacred  Geography  of  Africa,  prefixed  to  his  edition 
of  "  The  Seven  Books  of  St.  Optatus,  bishop  of  Mileve  in  Africa," 
on  the  schism  of  the  Donatists,  published  at  Paris,  A.  D.  1700,  p.  57. 

»24  Bingham's  Antiq.  of  Christ.  Church,  B.  2.  c.  12.  §  3. 


208  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

well  by  the  Orthodox  as  their  opponents.  Wherever  a  few 
people  could  be  gathered  together,  they  organized  them  into 
a  church,  and  placed  a  bishop  over  them.  And  when  that 
church  became  very  numerous  they  divided  it  again  (except 
in  the  great  cities),  just  as  we  are  accustomed  to  do  at  the 
present  day.  There  was  nothing  in  the  idea  of  a  church,  or 
of  a  bishop,  that  forbade  this  practice.  Nay,  it  was  pro- 
vided for  by  an  ecclesiastical  law  of  the  province.  The 
fifth  canon  of  the  second  council  of  Carthage  (A.  D.  390) 
provides,  that  '  if,  in  the  course  of  time,  as  religion  prospers, 
any  people  of  God  should  be  so  multiplied  as  to  desire  to  have 
a  rector  of  their  own,  they  should  have  a  bishop,  in  case  they 
obtained  the  consent  of  him  to  whose  authority  the  diocese 
was  subject.' 

"  Du  Pin  says,  '  We  have  drawn  out  of  ancient  docu- 
ments the  names  of  six  hundred  and  ninety  bishoprics  in 
Africa.' ^^     He  annexes  a  catalogue  of  their  names,  and  re- 

"*  Georg.  Sac.  Afrlcae,p.  59.  Schoene  says,  Geschichtsforschun- 
gen,  Bd.  III.  335,  that  in  the  time  of  Augustine  there  were  nine 
linndrcd  bishops  in  Africa.  The  number  is  evidently  made  out  in  the 
following  manner.  Augustine,  in  his  minutes  of  the  first  day's  con- 
ference between  the  Catholics  and  Donatists,  says,  that  of  the  Cath- 
olics, 286  answered  to  their  names,  20  subscribed  not,  120  were 
absent,  detained  by  reason  of  their  age,  infirmity,  or  other  causes ; 
and  that  60  of  their  bishoprics  were  vacant,  making  a  total  of  426 
bishops  and  486  bishoprics. 

Of  the  Donatists,  279  were  present,  many  more  than  120  were 
absent,  and  many  of  their  bishoprics  were  vacant. — Opera,  Vol.  IX. 
p.  374,  F.  375,  376,  A.  Antwerp,  1700. 

Augustine  also  states,  that  the  Maximinianists  were  condemned  by 
a  council  of  310  of  the  Donatists.  Contra  Parmeniam,  Lib.  I.Tom. 
0.  c.  18.  p.  15,  B.  Contra  Crescon.  Don.  Lib.  3.  c.  52.  p.  315,  E. 
Lib.  4.  c.  7.  p.  331,  D.  The  Donatists,  moreover,  themselves  boast- 
ed that  they  had  more  than  400  bishops  in  Africa.  Post.  Coll.  c.  24, 
p.  411,  D.  In  addition  to  all  these,  the  Maximinianists  afford  another 
legion  of  bishops  in  this  same  province,  100  or  more  of  whom  con- 
demned Priminianus.  Contra  Crescon.  Don.  Lib.  4.  c.  6.  p.  331,  D. 
Post.  Coll.  c.  30.     We  are  now  prepared  to  make  up  the  roll  of  Af- 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  209 

fers  in  every  instance  to  the  document  or  documents  where 
they  are  found.  With  reason,  therefore,  he  says,  *  there  is 
not  one  of  these  that  has  not  at  some  time  a  bishop,  as  may 
be  gathered  from  ecclesiastical  documents.'  "^26 

(/)  The  charge  of  a  primitive  bishop  is  known  in  many 
instances  not  to  have  equalled  that  of  a  modern  presbyter  or 
pastor. 

Bishops  were  found  in  villages  and  military  stations  in 
Africa,  as  we  have  just  seen.  Ischyrus  was  made  bishop  of 
a  very  small  village,  containing  but  few  inhabitants.^^?  Paul, 
one  of  the  famous  council  of  Nice,  was  only  bishop  of  a 
fort,  q)QovQiov,  near  the  river  Euphrates.i^s  Eulogius  and 
Barses,  monks  of  Edessa,  had  each  no  city,  but  only  a  mon- 
astery for  a  diocese ;  or  rather  their  title  was  merely  hono- 
rary, an  empty  name,  with  which  no  charge  was  connect- 
ed.'29  Others,  again,  were  bishops  of  cities  where  there 
were  no  Christians  whatever,  and  but  few  in  the  country 
round  about. i^o 

The  council  of  Sardica,  c.  7,  and  of  Laodicea,  c.  57,  in 
the  fourth  century,  denounced  the  custom  of  ordaining 
bishops  "  in  villages  and  small  cities,  lest  the  authority  of  a 
bishop  should  be  brought  into  contempt."  But  a  hundred 
years  later,  the  custom  still  prevailed  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent.    Even  Gregory  Nazianzen,  one   of  the  most  learned 

rican  bishops.  Catholics,  426,  Donatists,  400,  Maximinianists,  100. 
Total,  926, — to  say  nothing  of  vacant  Sees.  In  such  astonishing  pro- 
fusion are  these  dioceses,  these  Episcopal  Sees,  scattered  broad-cast 
over  the  single  province  of  Africa. 

126  New  York  Evangelist,  Vol.  XIV.  p.  182.     1843. 

'27  Koij-tt]  ^Qayvrdri])  xal  oXiyoiv  dv&gwTtojv. — Mlians.  Apol.  2.  Vol. 
I.  p.  200. 

-    128  Theodoret,  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  1.  c.  6. 

,A  .^^  O'l  Vial  iTTioxoTroj  dju(poj  votsqov  tyevl&rjVj  ov  noksojs  rivcg  akXd 
TifiTJs  tvty.tv.  .  .  .  xeiQOTOVTjd'tVTS'S  iv  xotq  Idi'oig  juovacrrTjQioig. — Sozo- 
mev,  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  6.  c.  34.  p.  691. 

1^  Schoene,  Geschichtsforschungen,  Bd.  III.  S.  S36. 

18* 


210 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


and  eloquent  men  of  his  age,  worthy  to  have  been  "  a  pro- 
fessor of  eloquence,"  after  having  studied  in  Caesarea,  in 
Alexandria,  and  in  Athens,  was  bishop,  in  the  last  half  of  the 
fourth  century,  first  of  Zazime,  "  a  dismal"  place ;  and 
afterwards  of  Nazianzum,  noleoig  Ivtelovgy  vilis  oppidi,  an 
inferior  place. '^i  Even  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century, 
diocesan  Episcopacy  was  but  partially  established.  In  some 
countries,  **  there  were  bishops  over  many  cities,"  but  in 
others,  they  were  still  "  consecrated  in  villages,"  nmfxaigA^^ 

But  we  need  not  enlarge.  If  any  one  wishes  for  further 
information  on  this  point,  he  has  only  to  refer  to  Clarkson  on 
Primitive  Episcopacy,  an  antiquated  work,  evincing  a  re- 
markable familiarity  with  the  records  of  antiquity,  in  which 
facts,  almost  innumerable,  have  been  brought  together,  all 
tending  to  show  that  the  bishop  of  the  primitive  church  had 
a  charge  no  greater  than  a  curate,  or  presbyter,  or  parish 
minister. 

Grant  then  to  prelacy  all  her  claims.  Run  back  her  '  un- 
broken succession'  to  these  days  of  primitive  simplicity,  and 
it  leads  you  up,  not  to  an  Episcopal  palace,  but  to  the  cot- 
tage, the  cell,  it  may  be,  of  an  obscure  curate.  The  mo- 
dern bishop  has  only  deceived  himself  with  a  name.  While 
he  reads  of  ancient  bishops,  he  idly  dreams  of  Episcopal 
powers  and  prerogatives  that  were  unknown  in  the  church 
until  the  days  of  Constantine  the  Great. 

It  is  a  sophism  often  used  with  effect,  deceiving  the  sim- 
ple and  the  wise,  to  surround  an  ancient  and  venerable  name 
with  modern  associations.  So  delusive  are  our  comparisons 
of  that  which  is  unknown  with  what  is  well  known  ;  so  de- 
ceptive our  judgment  of  the  past  by  the  present.  Tityrus, 
the  poet's  simple  swain,  foolishly  thought  Rome  herself  just 
such  another  as  his  own  Mantua,  where  the  shepherds  were 
wont  to  drive  their  tender  lambs.     So  he  had  seen  whelps, 

"^  Socrates,  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  4.  c.  26.  p.  242. 
JM  Sozomen,  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  7.  c.  19.  p.  734. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  211 

like  dogs ;  so  kids,  like  goats.  Thus  he  was  wont  to  com- 
pare great  things  with  small.  But  what  was  his  surprise  to 
see  the  imperial  city  rearing  her  head  as  high  above  others 
as  the  cypress  rises  above  the  limber  shrubs.i33  He  had  de- 
ceived himself  by  his  false  comparisons.  A  similar  decep- 
tion, though  in  its  effects  precisely  the  reverse  of  this,  we 
practice  upon  ourselves  when  we  bring  a  modern,  into  com- 
parison with  a  primitive  bishop.  But  on  examination  the 
delusion  vanishes.  The  far-spreading  domains  of  the  dio- 
cesan, shrink  into  a  little  hamlet;  the  proud  Episcopal  pa- 
lace becomes  a  poor  parsonage;  and  the  lofty  prelate,  a  hum- 
ble presbyter,  the  pastor  of  a  little  flock. 

The  bearings  of  this  view  of  the  subject  upon  prelacy  are 
obvious. 

I.  It  denies  the  exclusive  virtue  of  Episcopal  ordination. 

The  relations  of  the  foregoing  view  to  the  exclusive  va- 
lidity of  Episcopal  ordination,  are  clearly  set  forth  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage  from  Clarkson,  himself  an  Episcopalian  : 

"  Hereby,  also,  some  mistakes  about  Episcopal  ordina- 
tions, of  ill  consequence,  may  be  rectified.  A  bishop,  in 
the  best  ages  of  Christianity,  was  no  other  than  the  pastor  of 
a  single  church.  A  pastor  of  a  single  congregation  is  now 
as  truly  a  bishop.  They  were  duly  ordained  in  those  ages, 
who  were  set  apart  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  by  the  pas- 
tor of  a  single  church,  with  the  concurrence  of  some  assis- 
tants. Why  they  should  not  be  esteemed  to  be  duly  ordain- 
ed, who  are  accordingly  set  apart  by  a  pastor  of  a  single 
church  now,  I  can  discern  no  reason,  after  I  have   looked 

^^  Urbem  quam  dicunt  Romam,  Meliboee,  putavi 

Stultus,  ego  huic  nostrae  sirnilem,  quo  saepe  solemus 

Pastores  ovium  teneros  depellere  foetus. 

Sic  canibus  catulos  similes,  sic  matribus  haedos 

Noram  ;  sic  parvis  componere  magna  solebam. 

Veriim  haec  tantum  alias  inter  caput  extulit  urbes, 

Quantum  lenta  sclent  inter  viburna  cupTessi.—  VirgUf  Bue.  1. 


212  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

every  way  for  it.  Let  something  be  assigned  which  will 
make  an  essential  difference  herein ;  otherwise  they  that 
judge  such  ordinations  here,  and  in  other  reformed  churches, 
to  be  nullities,  will  hereby  declare  all  the  ordinations  in  the 
ancient  church  for  three  or  four  hundred  years,  to  be  null 
and  void,  and  must  own  the  dismal  consequences  that  ensue 
thereof.  They  that  will  have  no  ordinations  but  such  as  are 
performed  by  one  who  has  many  churches  under  him,  main- 
tain a  novelty  never  known  nor  dreamt  of  in  the  ancient 
churches,  while  their  state  was  tolerable.  They  may  as  well 
say  the  ancient  church  had  never  a  bishop  (if  their  interest 
did  not  hinder,  all  the  reason  they  make  use  of  in  this  case 
would  lead  them  to  it),  as  deny  that  a  reformed  pastor  has 
no  power  to  ordain,  because  he  is  not  a  bishop.  He  has 
Episcopal  ordination,  even  such  as  the  canons  require,  being 
set  apart  by  two  or  three  pastors  at  least,  who  are  as  truly 
diocesans  as  the  ancient  bishops,  for  some  whole  ages."i34 

2.  It  exposes  also  the  futility  of  the  doctrine  of  apostoli- 
cal succession. 

"  The  theory  is,  that  each  bishop,  from  the  apostolic 
times,  has  received  in  his  consecration  a  mysterious  '  gift,* 
and  also  transmits  to  every  priest  in  his  ordination  a  myste- 
rious '  gift,'  indicated  in  the  respective  offices  by  the  awful 
words,  '  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ;'  that  on  this  the  right  of 
priests  to  assume  their  functions,  and  the  preternatural  grace 
of  the  sacraments  administered  by  them,  depends  ;  that  bish- 
ops, once  consecrated,  instantly  become  a  sort  of  Leyden  jar 
of  spiritual  electricity,  and  are  invested  with  the  remarkable 
property  of  transmitting  the  '  gift '  to  others  ;  that  this  has 
been  the  case  from  the  primitive  age  till  now  ;  that  this  high 
gift  has  been  incorruptibly  transmitted  through  the  hands  of 
impure,  profligate,  heretical  ecclesiastics,  as  ignorant  and 
flagitious  as  any  of  their  lay  cotemporaries;   that,  in  fact, 

^3-*  Primitive  Episcopacy,  pp.  182,  183.     London,  1688. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  213 

these  '  gifts '  are  perfectly  irrespective  of  the  moral  character 
and  qualifications  both  of  bishop  and  priest,  and  reside  in 
equal  integrity  in  a  Bonner  or  a  Cranmer, — a  parson  Adams 
or  a  parson  Trulliber."i35 

Now,  we  ask,  were  these  countless  multitudes  of  bishops 
all  episcopally  ordained,  scattered  through  the  earth,  as  they 
were,  from  Britain  to  the  remotest  Indies ;  in  cities,  towns, 
villages,  forts,  military  stations,  monasteries,  and  we  know  not 
where  ?  Can  these  mysterious  '  gifts  '  and  graces  be  so  dif- 
fused abroad  over  the  earth,  and  bandied  about  from  hand 
to  hand,  without  the  hazard  that,  amidst  a  thousand  contingen- 
cies, they  may  have  fallen  away  or  lost  their  ethereal  power? 
Has  no  graceless  hypocrite  crept  in  unawares  among  the 
Lord's  anointed,  and,  with  unholy  hand,  essayed  these  awful 
mysteries,  vainly  assuming  to  transmit  by  uncanonized  rites, 
this  heavenly  grace  ?  Has  no  link  been  broken  in  this  mys- 
terious chain,  stretching  onward  from  the  distant  age  of  the 
apostles  down  to  the  present  ?  Has  no  irregularity  disturbed 
the  succession,  no  taint  of  heresy  marred  the  purity  of  its 
descent  ?     Believe  it  who  can.i^s 

135  Edinburgh  Rev.  April,  1843,  pp.  269,  270. 

136  «  We  can  imagine  the  perplexity  of  a  presbyter  thus  cast  in 
doubt  as  to  whether  or  not  he  has  ever  had  the  invaluable  '  gift  '  of 
apostolical  succession  conferred  upon  him.  As  that '  gift  '  is  neither 
tangible  nor  visible,  the  subject  neither  of  experience  nor  conscious- 
ness ; — as  it  cannot  be  known  by  any  'effects'  produced  by  it  (for 
that  mysterious  efRcacy  which  attends  the  administration  of  rites  at 
its  possessor's  hands,  is,  like  the  gift  which  qualifies  him  to  adminis- 
ter them,  also  invisible  and  intangible), — he  may  imagine,  unhappy 
man!  that  he  has  been  '  regenerating  '  infants  by  baptism,  when  he 
has  been  simply  sprinkling  them  with  water.  '  What  is  the  matter  ?' 
the  spectator  of  his  distractions  might  ask.  '  What  have  you  lost  ?' 
'  Lost !'  would  be  the  reply  ;  '  1  fear  1  have  lost  my  apostolical  suc- 
cession, or  rather  my  misery  is,  that  1  do  not  know  and  cannot  tell 
whether  I  ever  had  it  to  lose  !'  It  is  of  no  use  here  to  suggest  the 
usual  questions,  '  When  did  you  see  it  last  ?  When  were  you  last 
conscious  of  possessing  it  ?'  What  a  peculiar  property  is  that,  of 
which,  though  so  invaluable, — nay,  on  which  the  whole  efficacy  of 


214  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

3.  It  is  fatal  to  the  claims  of  high  Episcopacy  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  "  one  catholic  and  apostolic  church." 

This  holy  catholic  church,  one  and  invisible,  deriving 
divine  rights  by  regular  succession  from  the  apostles, — where 
or  what  is  it?  Who,  this  house  of  Aaron,  that  have  kept  all 
the  while  the  sacred  fire  of  the  altar,  borne  up  and  defended 
the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  and  guarded  thus  from  all  profane 
intrusion  the  ark  of  the  covenant]  This  royal  priesthood, 
these  that  were  at  first  created,  and  have  always  continued, 
wholly  a  right  seed, — who,  or  what  are  they  ?  What  form  of 
error,  we  seriously  ask,  what  species  of  delusion,  what  kind 
of  schism,  what  creature  of  sin,  has  not,  at  some  time,  found 
a  place  within  this  same  immaculate  church,  as  a  component 
part  of  this  strange  Episcopal  unity, — a  unity  only  of  chaos 
and  infinite  confusion  ?  The  whole  system  of  high,  exclu- 
sive Episcopacy  is  anything  but  a  semblance  of  that  apos- 
tolic church  of  which  it  so  proudly  boasts.  In  its  doctrines, 
in  its  government,  and  in  all  the  apparatus  of  its  canons  and 
its  traditions,  what  has  it  now  in  common  with  the  church, 
as  she  was  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  ?  This  "  one,  holy, 
catholic,  and  apostolic  church"  of  prelacy, — like  the  famous 
ship  of  ancient  Grecian  story,  which  by  continued  decay 
and  repairs,  came  to  be  so  changed  at  last  that  nothing  of 

the  Christian  ministry  depends, — a  man  has  no  positive  evidence  to 
show  whether  he  ever  had  it  or  not !  which,  if  ever  conferred,  was 
conferred  without  his  knowledge  ;  and  which  if  it  could  be  taken 
away,  would  still  leave  him  ignorant,  not  only  when,  where  and  how 
the  theft  was  committed,  but  whether  it  had  ever  been  committed  or 
not  !  The  sympathizing  friend  might,  probably,  remind  him,  that  as 
he  was  not  sure  he  had  ever  had  it,  so,  -perhaps^  he  still  had  it  without 
knowing  it.  '  Perhaps !'  he  would  reply  ;  '  but  it  is  certainty  I  want.' 
'Well,'  it  might  be  said,  'Mr.  Gladstone  assures  you,  that,  on  the 
most  moderate  computation,  your  chances  are  as  8000  to  1  that  you 
have  it !'  '  Pish  !'  the  distracted  man  would  exclaim,  '  what  does  Mr. 
Gladstone  know  about  the  matter .'"  And,  truly,  to  that  query  we 
know  not  well  what  answer  the  friend  could  make." — Edinburgh 
i2er.,  p.271. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  215 

the  original  remained, — she  has,  indeed,  still  the  same  name; 
but  all  else,  how  changed  !  One  by  one,  her  every  part  has 
gone  to  decay,  and  given  place  to  something  else.  And  she 
lies  now  at  her  moorings,  with  scarcely  a  beam,  or  plank,  or 
fragment  of  her  shrouds  remaining  from  the  original  and 
noble  frame-work  of  the  great  architect;  yet  proudly  claim- 
ing still  an  exclusive  right  to  the  honored  name  which  she 
so  much  dishonors.  This  *'  catholic,  apostolic  church,"— 
pray,  in  what  consists  her  identity  with  the  church  of  the 
holy  apostles? 

"  A  real,  living  unity ,  and  a  well  regulated  liberty, '^  says 
Riddle,  "  characterized  the  early  constitution  of  the  church. 
But  liberty  was  afterwards  sacrificed  to  unity  ;  and  this  unity 
itself  degenerated  into  a  merely  external,  forced,  and  dead 
union, — which  became  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  op- 
pression, and  to  the  growth  of  the  hierarchy." 

4.  The  original  equality  of  bishops  and  presbyters  contin- 
ued to  be  acknowledged,  from  the  rise  of  the  Episcopal  hie- 
rarchy down  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 

The  claims  of  prelatical  Episcopacy  were  attacked  in  the 
fifth  century  with  great  spirit  by  Jerome,  who  denied  the  su- 
periority of  bishops,  giving  at  the  same  time  an  explanation 
of  the  origin  of  this  groundless  distinction,  widely  different 
from  that  of  divine  right  by  apostolical  authority.  Several 
passages  from  this  author  have  already  been  given  under  an- 
other head,  to  which  we  subjoin  the  following,  with  a  transla- 
tion, and  an  analysis  by  Dr.  Mason. 

"  Thus  he  lays  down  doctrine  and  fact  relative  to  the 
government  of  the  church,  in  his  commentary  on  Titus  1:  5. 

"  That  thou  shouldest  ordain  presbyters  in  every  city,  as  I 
had  appointed  theeA^'^     *  What  sort  of  presbyters  ought  to  be 

137  a  Qui  qualis  Presbyter  debeat  ordinari,  in  consequentibus  disse- 
renshocait:  Si  qui  est  sine  crimine,  unius  uxoris  vir,"  et  caetera : 
postea  intulit,  "  Oportet  Episcopum  sine  crimine  esse,  tanquam  Dei 


216  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

ordained  he  shows  afterwards.  If  any  he  blameless,  the  hus- 
band of  one  wife,  etc.  and  then  adds,  for  a  bishop  must  be 
blameless,  as  the  steward  of  God,  etc.  A  presbi/ter,  therefore, 
is  the  sa?ne  as  a  bishop :  and  before  there  were,  bi/  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  devil,  parties  in  religion  ;  and  it  was  said  among  dif- 
ferent people,  Ia7n  of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos ,  and  I  of  Cephas , 
the  churches  were  governed  by  the  joint  counsel  of  the  presby- 
ters. But  afterwards,  when  every  one  accounted  those  whom 
he  baptized  as  belonging  to  himself  and  not  to  Christ,  it  was  de- 

dispensatorem."  Idem  est  ergo  Presbyter,  qui  et  Episcopus,  et  ante- 
quara  diaboli  instinctu,  studia  in  religione  fierent,  et  diceretur  in  po- 
pulis  :  "  Ego  sum  Pauli,  ego  Apollo,  ego  autem  Cephae  :"  commvni 
Preshyterorum  consilio  ecclesiae  gubernabantur.  Postquam  vero  unus- 
quisque  eos,  quos  baptizaverat,  suos  putabat  esse,  non  Christi  :  in  toto 
orhc  derretum  est,  vt  xinvs  de  Presbyteris  el ectus  super poneretur  caeteris 
ad  quern  omnis  eccJ esiae  cura perlinerct,  et  schismatum  semina  tolleren- 
tur.  Putet  aliquis  non  scripturarum,  sed  nostram,  esse  sententiam 
Episcopum  et  Presbyterum  unum  esse  ;  etaliud  aetatis,  aliud  esse  no- 
men  officii;  relegat  Apostoli  ad  Philipenses  verba  dicentis ;  Paulus 
etTimotheus  servi  Jesu  Christi,  omnibus  Sanctis  in  Christo  Jesu,  qui 
sunt  Philippis,  cuin  Episcopis  et  Diaconis,  gratia  vobis  et  pax,  et  reli- 
qua.  Philippi  una  est  urbs  Macedoniae,  et  certe  in  una  civitate  pivres 
ut  nuncupantur,  Episcopi  esse  nonpotcrant.  Sed  quiaeo5^/em  Episco- 
pos  illo  tempore  quos  et  Presbyteros  apellabant,  propterea  indifFerentur 
de  Episcopis  quasi  de  Presbyteris  est  locutus.  Adhuc  hoc  alicui  vi- 
deatur  ambiguum,  nisi  altero  testimonio  comprobetur.  In  Actibus 
Apostolorum  scriptum  est,  quod  cum  venis^et  Apostolus  Miletum 
miserit  Ephesum,  et  vocaverit  Presbyteros  ecclesiae  ejusdem,  quibus 
postea  inter  caetera  sit  locutus  ;  attcndite  vobis  et  omni  grcgi  m  quo  vos 
Spirltus  Sanctus  posuit  Episcopos,  pnscere  Ecdesiam  Domini,  quam  ac- 
quisivit  per  sauffuinem  suum.  Et  hoc  diligentiusobservate,  quo  modo 
xinius  civitntis  Ephesi  Presbyteros  vocans,  postea  eosdem  Episcoyios 
dixerit, — Haec  propterea,  ut  ostenderemus  apud  veteres  eosdem  fuisse 
Presbyteros  et  Episcopos.  Paulatim  vero,  ut  dissentionum  plantaria 
evellerentur,  ad  unum  omnem  solicitudinem  esse  delatam. — Sicut  er- 
go Presbyteri  sciunt  se  ex  ecclesiae  consuetudine  ei,  qui  sibi  propositus 
fuerit,  esse  subjectos,  ita  Episcopi  novenntse  ma gis  consuetudine  quam 
dispositionis  domlnicae  reriiatc,  Presbyteris  esse  majores,  Hieronymi 
Com,,  in  Tit.  I.  1.  0pp.  Vol.  IV.  p.  413,  ed.  Paris.  1693— 17C6.  The 
same  may  be  found  in  Rothe,  S.  209. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  217 

creed  throughout  the  whole  world  that  one,  chosen  from  among 
the  presbyters,  should  be  put  over  the  rest,  and  that  the  whole 
care  of  the  church  should  be  committed  to  him,  and  the  seeds 
of  schism  taken  away. 

"  *  Should  any  one  think  that  this  is  only  my  own  private- 
opinion,  and  not  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  let  him  read 
the  words  of  the  apostle  in  his  epistle  to  the  Philippians : 
*'  Paul  and  Timotheus,  servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  all  the 
saints  in  Christ  Jesus,  which  are  at  Philippi,  with  the  bishops 
and  deacons,"  etc.  Philippi,  is  a  single  city  of  Macedonia; 
and  certainly  in  one  city  there  could  not  be  several  bishops 
as  they  are  now  styled ;  but  as  they,  at  that  time,  called  the 
very  same  persons  bishops  whom  they  called  presbyters,  the 
apostle  has  spoken  without  distinction  of  bishops  as  pres- 
byters. 

"  *  Should  this  matter  yet  appear  doubtful  to  any  one,  un-^ 
less  it  be  proved  by  an  additional  testimony,  it  is  written  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that  when  Paul  had  come  to  Mile- 
turn,  he  sent  to  Ephesus  and  called  the  presbyters  of  that 
church,  and  among  other  things  said  to  them,  '*  Take  heed 
to  yourselves  and  to  all  the  flock  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
hath  made  you  bishops."  Take  particular  notice,  that  c;ill- 
ing  the  presbyters  of  the  single  city  of  Ephesus,  he  after- 
wards names  the  same  persons  bishops.'  After  further  quo- 
tations from  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  from  Peter,  he 
proceeds :  *  Our  intention  in  these  remarks  is  to  show,  that 
among  the  ancients,  presbyters  and  bishops  were  the  very 
SAME.  But  that  by  little  and  little,  that  the  plants  of 
dissension  might  be  plucked  up,  the  whole  concern  was  de- 
volved upon  an  individual.  As  the  presbyters,  therefore,  know 
that  they  are  subjected,  by  the  custom  of  the  church,  to 
him  who  is  set  over  them,  so  let  the  bishops  know  that  they 
are  greater  than  presbyters,  more  by  custom  than  by  ant 
real  appointment  of  Christ.'  "138 

»3»  Mason's  Works,  Vol.  III.  pp.  225—228. 

19 


218  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Again :  "  with  the  ancients,  bishops  and  presbyters  may 
have  been  one  and  the  same,  because  the  one  denotes  dignity 
in  office,  the  other,  superiority  in  age/'^^g 

"Here  is  an  account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  Episco- 
pacy by  a  father  whom  the  Episcopalians  themselves  admit 
to  have  been  the  most  able  and  learned  man  of  his  age;  and 
how  contradictory  it  is  to  their  own  account  the  reader  will 
be  at  no  loss  to  perceive,  when  he  shall  have  followed  us 
through  an  analysis  of  its  several  parts. 

[a)  Jerome  expressly  denies  the  superiority  of  bishops  to 
presbyters,  by  divine  right.  To  prove  his  assertion  on  this 
head,  he  goes  directly  to  the  Scriptures;  and  argues  as  the 
advocates  of  parity  do,  from  the  interchangeable  titles  of  bish- 
op and  presbyter ;  from  the  directions  given  to  them  without 
the  least  intimation  of  difference  in  their  authority ;  and  from 
the  jwwers  of  presbyters,  undisputed  in  his  day. 

(b)  Jerome  states  it  as  a  historical  fact,  that  this  govern- 
ment of  the  churches  by  presbyters  alone,  continued  until,  for 
the  avoiding  of  scandalous  quarrels  and  schisms,  it  was  thought 
expedient  to  alter  it. 

(c)  Jerome  states  it  as  a  historical  fact,  that  this  change 
in  the  government  of  the  church,  this  creation  of  a  superior 
order  of  ministers,  took  place,  not  at  once,  but  by  degrees, — 
*  Paulatim,'  says  he,  '  by  little  and  little.' 

[d)  Jerome  states,  as  historical  facts,  that  the  elevation  of 
one  presbyter  over  the  others  was  a  human  contrivance ;  was 
not  imposed  by  authority,  but  crept  in  by  custom ;  and  that 
the  presbyters  of  his  day  knew  this  very  well. 

(c)  Jerome  states  it  as  a  historical  fact,  that  the  first  bish- 
ops were  made  by  the  presbyters  themselves,  and  consequent- 
ly they  could  neither  have,  nor  communicate  any  authority 
above  that  of  presbyters.  '  Afterwards,'  says  he, '  to  prevent 
schism,  one  was  elected  to  preside  over  the  rest.'     Elected 

^^^  Apud  veteres  iidem  episcopi  et  presbuteri  fuerint ;  quia  illud 
nomen  dignitatis,  est ;  hoc,  aetatis. — Ep.  ad  Oceanum,  Vol.  IV.  p.  648. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  219 

and  commissioned  by  whom  ?  By  the  jfresbt/ters;  for  he  im- 
mediately gives  you  a  broad  fact  which  it  is  impossible  to  ex- 
plain away.  *  At  Alexandria,'  he  tells,  you,  *  from  the  evange- 
list Mark  to  the  bishops  Heraclas  and  Dionysius,'  i.  c,  till 
about  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  *  the  presbyters  always 
chose  one  of  their  number,  placed  him  in  a  superior  station^ 
and  gave  him  the  title  of  bishop.' 

"  It  is  inconceivable  how  Jerome  should  tell  the  bishops 
to  their  faces  that  Christ  never  gave  them  any  superiority 
over  the  presbyters ;  that  custom  was  their  only  title ;  and 
that  the  presbyters  were  perfectly  aware  of  this,  unless  he 
was  supported  by  facts  which  they  were  unable  to  contradict. 
Their  silence  under  his  challenges  is  more  than  a  presump- 
tion that  they  found  it  wise  to  let  him  alone."i40 

The  testimony  of  Jerome  affords  an  authentic  record  of 
the  change  that  was  introduced  into  the  government  of  the 
church,  and  the  causes  that  led  to  this  change,  by  which  the 
original  constitution  was  wholly  subverted.  It  was  in  his 
day  a  known  and  acknowledged  fact,  that  prelacy  had  no 
authority  from  Christ  or  his  apostles, — no  divine  right,  to  sus- 
tain its  high  pretensions.  "  The  presbyters  know  that  they 
are  subject  to  their  bishops,"  not  by  divine  right  or  apostoli- 
cal succession,  but  "  by  the  custom  of  the  churchJ^  And  to 
the  same  effect,  is  the  admission  of  his  contemporary,  Augus- 
tine, the  renowned  bishop  of  Hippo,  which  we  give  in  the 
words  of  a  distinguished  prelate  of  the  church  of  England, 
as  quoted  by  Aynton.^'^i  "The  office  of  a  bishop  is  above 
the  office  of  a  priest  [presbyter],  not  by  the  authority  of 
Scripture,  but  after  the  names  of  honor,  which  through  the 
custom  of  the  church  have  now  obtained." i42     Episcopacy, 

140  Mason's  Works,  Vol.  III.  pp.  233—251. 

14'  Jewel,  Defence  of  his  Apology,  pp.  122, 123, 

^*^  Quanquam  secundum  honorum  vocabula  quae  jaw  ecclesiae  usu3 
oblinuit,  episcopatus  presbyterio  major  sit;  tamen  in  multis  rebus 
Augustinus  Hieronymo  minor  est. — Ep.  ad  Hter..,  19,  alias  83,  §33, 
Op  Vol.  II.  col.  153. 


220  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

according  to  this  eminent  and  ancient  prelate,  is  the  result  of 
custom,  without  any  scriptural  warrant  whatever. 
^  This  is  in  accordance,  also,  with  the  authority  of  Hilary, 
which  has  been  given  above.  What  a  note  of  triumphant 
exultation  would  prelacy  raise,  did  all  antiquity  offer  half  as 
much  in  defence  of  her  lofty  claims  as  these  fathers  furnish 
against  them. 

The  most  distinguished  of  the  Greek  fathers,  also,  concur 
w\ih  those  of  the  Latin  church,  in  their  views,  of  the  iden- 
tity of  bishops  and  presbyters.  Chrysostom,  A.  D.  407,  in 
commenting  upon  the  apostles'  salutation  of  the  bishops  of 
Philippi,  exclaims  :  "How  is  this?  Were  there  many  bishops 
in  one  city  ?  By  no  means ;  but  he  calls  the  presbyters  by 
this  name  ;  for  at  that  time  both  were  so  called.  The  bishop 
was  also  called  diuAOVog,  servant,  minister ;  for,  writing  to 
Timothy,  who  was  bishop,  he  says,  '  make  full  proof  of  thy 
dtaxoviav,  ministry'  He  also  instructs  him  to  lay  hands,  as 
a  bishop,  suddenly  on  no  man.  And  again :  *  which  was 
given  thee  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery.' 
But  presbyters  [as  such]  did  not  lay  hands  on  the  bishop. 
Again,  writing  to  Titus,  he  says,  *  for  this  cause  I  left  thee  in 
Crete,  that  thou  shouldst  ordain  presbyters  in  every  city  as  I 
had  commanded  thee.'  *  If  any  one  be  blameless,  the  hus- 
band of  one  wife.'  This  he  says  of  a  bishop  ;  for  he  imme- 
diately proceeds  to  add,  *  a  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as  the 
steward  of  God,  not  self-willed.'  Wherefore,  as  I  said,  pres- 
byters were  anciently  called  bishops  and  stewards  of  Christ, 
and  bishops  were  called  presbyters.  For  this  reason,  even 
now,  many  bishops  speak  of  their  fellow-presbyter,  and  fel- 
low-minister ;  and  fiually,  the  name  of  bishop  and  presbyter 
is  given  to  each  indiscriminately  J"  ^^"^     Again  :  with  reference 

143  2vv  iniaxonoLg  xal  diaxcvoig,  rl  romo  ;  fiiug  noXiwg  -nolXol 
iniaxonoi  ^aav  ;  Ov8af.mq'  aXlu  xovq  uQia^vii^ovq  ovTutg  ixdXs- 
«•«•  TOTS  yuQ  Tsojg  ixoivuvovv  Tolg  ovofiaa-i.,  xai  diaxorog  a  inivyto- 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  221 

to  Paul,  in  1  Tim.  3:  8,  Chrysostom  says,  that  "  after  discours- 
ing of  bishops,  and  showing  what  qualities  they  should  pos- 
sess, and  from  what  things  they  ought  to  abstain,  the  apostle 
proceeds  immediately  to  speak  of  deacons,  passing  by  the 
order  of  presbyters.  Why  so  ?  Because  there  is  not  much 
distinction  between  them  and  bishops.  For  they  also  are  set 
for  the  instruction  and  government  of  the  church.  What 
he  had  said  of  bishops  was  also  applicable  to  presbyters; 
they  have  the  superiority  merely  in  the  imposition  of  hands, 
and  in  this  respect  alone  take  precedence  of  the  presby- 
ters." i^'*  This  was  said  in  relation  to  the  time  at  which  Chry- 
sostom wrote.     Even  at  that  late  period  this  eminent  prelate 

nog  iXi/ETO.  Jia  tovto  ygdcpcov  not  Ttfiod^ioa  sXsys'  ri]v  diaxo^ 
vlav  aov  TtlTjQocpogtjaov,  iniaxonM  *6vti.  ovil  yag  inlaxonog  ^y, 
cprjdi  TiQog  avTov  xstgag  juxsoig  litjdfvl  ijtLxi&H'  nal  ndXiV  o 
idod^T]  aoi  fina  eTii&sasojg  imv  ;f«t^wj'  tov  TiQEa^vrsgiov  ovx  av 
8s  ngsa^VTfgoL  inlanonov  exsigoiLvrjaav.  Kal  ndXiv  ngog  Thov 
ygdcpmv  cptjal'  tovtov  /dgLV  xaTsXinov  ae  h  KgriTt],  %va  jtaraffT^- 
(TT^g  Kaxu  noXiv  ngm^vTigovg,  aig  «/w  aoL  disra^dfirjv  si  rig  avsy- 
yXi]Tog,  fitag  yvvmxog  dvrig'  a  nsgl  lov  iniunonov  cprjal.  Kal 
slnwv  Tama  sv&iwg  S7ir\yays'  dil  ydg  tov  snlaHonov  dviyxXfjTov 
sivai,  wg  Osov  oiy.ovo^ov,  fii]  avx^ddr}.  "Onsg  ovv  Bq)T]V,  vmI  at 
ngsa^vTsgot  to  naXaiov  ixaXovvTO  snlaxonoi  nal  diaxovot  tov 
Xgi(TTov,ital  ol  sTih^onoi  ngea^VTsgoi.  o&fv  teal  vvv  noXXol  <tv[a- 
Ttgsa^viigM  inlffxonoL  ygdcpovai,,  xal  uvvdiaxova'  Xomov  8s  to 
l8id^ov  STidcTTM  dnovEVS(ir)Tai  ovofia,  o  inlaaonog  xat  o  Tigsa^VTS- 
gag. — Chiysostom,  Ep.  ad  Phil.  Vol.  XL  p.  194. 

^44  ^iaXsy6(x£vog  nsgl  suLCpy.6nov  xat  %agaxTr]giaag  avTovg^  xal 
slriMV  Tiva  fisv  sxsLv,  tIv(ov  8s  dnixf(T&ai  xgi],  ital  to  twv  ngea^v- 
xsgMV  Tayfia  dcptlg,  elg  Tovg  Siaxovovg  ^iTsn'i]8ri(Ts.  Ti  8}]tiots  ; 
OTL  ol  noXv  [iS(T0v  avTMv  xal  Twy  iniaxoTiav,  Kal  ydg  yal  av- 
Tol  SiSaaxaXlav  sialy  dva8tdsyfiSvot  xal  ngouTaalav  Tr^g  sxxXijaiag' 
Hal  d  nsgl  irtiaxoTiMV  slnSy  xavTa  xal  ngsa^vTsgoig  agfioTisv'  ttj 
ydg  /EigoTovla  (xovrj  vnsg(if^rixain  xal  tovim  fiovov  8oxoxjfn  nXs" 
ovExislv  To'vg  ngsa^vTsgovg. — Ibid.^  Ep.  ad  Tim.  1,  Vol.  XI.  p.  604. 
19* 


222  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

recognizes   only   a  trifling  distinction  between  bishop  and 
presbyter. 

Theodoret,  also,  who  lived  only  a  few  years  later  than 
Chrysostom,  exhibits  substantially  the  same  sentiments.  In 
relation  to  the  salutation  of  Paul  to  the  Philippians,  c.  1  :  1, 
he  says,  *'  the  apostle  addresses  himself  to  the  priesthood  and 
to  the  saints  who  are  under  them,  in  which  term  he  includes 
all  who  had  received  baptism.  But  he  calls  the  presbyters 
bishops;  for  they  had,  at  that  time  the  same  names,  as  we 
learn  from  the  history  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles."  The 
writer  then  proceeds  to  remark  upon  the  presbyters  of  Ephe- 
sus,  Acts  20  :  17,  who  in  verse  28  are  called  bishops.  From 
this  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  instructions  given  to  Titus, 
who  was  left  in  Crete,  to  ordain  presbyters  in  every  city ;  but 
on  being  directed  what  persons  to  choose,  he  is  told  that  "  a 
bishop  must  be  blameless,"  etc.  He  then  adverts  to  the  fact 
that  the  apostle  speaks  only  of  two  orders,  bishops  and  dea- 
cons, without  any  mention  of  presbyters ;  and  of  the  impos- 
sibility of  supposing  that  several  bishops  could  have  borne 
rule  in  the  same  city.  After  this,  he  proceeds  to  say  ;  "  so 
that  it  is  evident  that  he  denominates  the  presbyters,  bish- 
ops." ^'^^    This  sentiment  he  repeats  in  remarking  upon  Phil. 

^^^  Ilacn  T«  y.ai  aviov  intaTiXXu,  io7g  ds  t?]^  Ugooavvi]g  ii^ioi- 
fiivoig  xal  jolg  ano  xovxtav  noifxuivopivoig.  uylovg  yaq  rovg  lov 
jSariTliTfiaTog  a^iiad-iviag  avoixadsv,  iniaxonovg  8s  xovg  ngsa^v- 
tigovg  y.ocXH,  aixcpozsQU  yag  ei/ov  xar  ixnvov  top  xaigov  ta  ovo- 
fxaxa.  Kul  xovio  ri^ag  kuI  i]  xfav  TlQu^iMV  laxogla  didiiaxst. 
EigrjXbig  yug  6  fiaxagiogAovxag,  ug  fig  xr,v  Mlhjxov  xohg^EcpmloiV 
psxsniixipaxo  ngta^viigovg  o  -dEiog  anoaxoXog,  Xiyu  xal  xa  nghg 
ecvxovg  dgT^jASva'  ngoasxExs  yag  cpt^aLV  tavxolg  xal  navil  Jioipvib), 
iv  M  vfAug  e&sjo  xo  nvsvpa  x6  ayiov  iniaxonovg,  noipalvsiv  xtjv 
ixxXrjfflav  xov  Xgiaxov'  xai  xovg  avxovg  xal  ngia^vjigovg  xal 
iniaxonovg  covouuffEV.  Ovtw  xal  iv  xjj  ngog  xov  fiuxdgiov  Tixov 
iniaxoXfj'  dia  xomo  xaxehnov  as  iv  Kgi]xr],  Xva  xaxaaxifarjg  xaxa 
noXiv  ngta^vxigovg^  (ag  iya  (tol  duxa^u(At}v.     Kal  dnov  onoiovg 


EQUALITY  OP  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  223 

2  :  55 ;  where  he  says,  that  "  those  who,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  epistle,  are  called  bishops,  evidently  belonged  to  the 
grade  of  the  presbytery."  The  passage  is  given  entire  in 
the  margin.1^6  Again,  1  Tim.  3 :  1,  he  takes  occasion  to 
say,  that  the  apostle  "  calls  the  presbyter  a  bishop,  as  we 
have  had  occasion  to  show  in  our  commentary  on  the  epistle 
to  the  Philippians."i^7 

The  following  commentary  of  the  Greek  scholiast,  of  a 
later  date,  shows  that  these  views  were  still  retained  in  the 
Eastern  church.  "  Inasmuch  as  the  custom  of  the  New 
Testament  especially,  of  calling  bishops  presbyters,  and  pres- 
byters bishops,  seems  to  be  silently  neglected  by  the  many, 
it  may  be  shown  from  Acts  20  :  17;  and  from  the  epistle  to 
Titus;  and  again,  from  that  to  the  Philippians;  and  yet 
again,  from  the  first  epistle  to  Timothy.  From  the  Acts  the 
argument  is  as  follows : — *  From  Miletus,  Paul  sent  to  Ephe- 
sus,  and  called  the  presbyters  of  the  church.'  He  called 
them  not  bishops ;  but  farther  on  he  says,  '  Over  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  bishops  to  feed  the  church.' — 

(ivai  xqh  %ovq  xtt-QOTOvovixivovg  inijyays'  dtl  yaq  tov  Bnlayoitov 
uvi/icXrjTOv  sivm,  wg  0(ov  olxovo^iov.  Kal  sptav&a  ds  dtjXov  xoii- 
10  nsTiolrjXB'  xolq  yaq  inicntonoig  rovg  diaxovovg  crvvi^sv^e,  Twy 
ngta^viEQMv  ov  noirjadfMevog  {xvri^Tjv'  liXXoig  xs  aids  olov  xs  r^v 
nollovg  sTuaxoTiovg  fiiav  nohv  noi^alvBiV  wg  sivai  diiXov  ot» 
xovg  ^Bv  7r(J8(T^vT£Qovg  iniaxonovg  Mvo^aas, — Tlwodoret,  Ep.  ad 
Phil.  p.  445  seq.  Vol.  III.  ed.  Halens. 

1^6  iioXXa  xal  xomov  (Epaphroditus)  xaxoQ&ajfiuTa  die^ijX&sy 
(Paulus),  ovx  udeXq)OV  ^ovov,  «AA«  xal  avvsqyov  xal  (TvajQaxiMi^v 
anoxaXsaag.  AnoaxoXov  ds  avxov  xixXrjxev  avxav  atg  xi]v  inifii- 
Xbiuv  ctvtojv  e^nsTinTxsvfisvov  wg  sivai  dilXov  oxt  V7i6  xovxov  ixi- 
Xovv  ol  if  xo)  TiQOOi^lb)  xXrj&svxsg  inlaxonoL,  xov  nqea^vxegiov 
drjkovoxi,  xi\v  xd^iv  nXriqovvng. — Ibid.  Ep.  ad  Tim.^  p.  459,  Vol. 
UI. 

147  "EniaxoTcov  8k  ivxav&a  xov  nQio^vxtqov  Xiyn,  wg  xtjv  ngog 
0di,nnrj<riovg  ijTiaxoXi]v  eQprjvivovisg  dnsdsi^afisv. — Ibid.  p.  652. 


224 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


From  the  epistle  to  Titus,  *  Having  established  presbyters 
throughout  the  churches  as  I  commanded  you.' — From  the 
epistles  to  the  Philippians,  '  To  those  that  are  in  Philippi 
with  the  bishop  and  deacons.'  From  the  epistle  to  Timothy 
the  same  may  be  inferred  by  analogy,  when  he  says,  *  If 
any  man  desire  the  office  of  a  bishop  he  desireth  a  good 
work  ;'    'A  bishop  must  be  blameless,'  etc."^'*^ 

This  scholiast  has  but  hinted  at  the  argument  from  these 
passages,  to  which  he  refers,  but  he  has  said  enough  to  show 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  ministerial  parity  of  bishops  and 
presbyters  was  still  maintained  during  the  middle  ages,  in 
the  Eastern  church,  and  justly  defended  on  the  authority  of 
the  Scriptures. 

Elias,  archbishop  of  Crete,  A.  D.  787,  asserts  the  identity 
of  bishops  and  presbyters ;  and,  in  commenting  upon  Gre- 
gory Nazianzen,  remarks,  that  this  bishop,  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, was  accustomed  to  denominate  presbyters,  bishops,  an- 
tistiteSy  making  no  distinction  between  them ; — a  circum- 

^48  ^Ensidii  Xavd-uvsL  Tovg  noXXovg  ^  avvij&sia,  ^dXiaxa  jrjg 
yaivrig  dia&i]xr]g,  Tovg  snicxoTiovg  7Tgs(T(3visQOvg  ovo/Au^ovcra  aal 
jovg  TiQsa^vTSQOvg  inLaxonovg,  ai^^tiariov  tovtov  ivTtv&iv  xou  ix 
Ti]g  ngog  Tlxov  inL(TXoXr]g^  m  8&  xal  ngog  fluXmnrjalovg  xal  ex 
trig  TiQog  Tifio&tov  nqwirfi.  "Ex  fisv  ovv  tuv  IlQW^eoiV  iviBvdsv 
iait  ntiadijvai,  tisqI  tovtov,  yi/ganTai  yuQ  ovTOjg'  Ex  de  T^g 
MiXijTov  ni^ipag  dg  ^Ecfiuov  [xsTtxaXetTaxo  Tovg  ngsa^VTSQOvg  Trjg 
ixxXtjalag.  Kal  ovx  sl'iJtjxs  Tovg  iTtiaxonovg,  nia  sjiicpigsL'  iv  w 
i^ag  TO  nvsifiu  to  ayiov  sd^STO  iniaxonovg,  noLfjialvsiv  Trji>  ixxXij- 
aloLV.  "Ex  8k  Trig  nqog  Tliov  ijiKTToXrjg'  KaraaTtiffi-ig  xutu  no- 
Xiv  TiQsa^VTiQOvg,  ojg  iyat  aoi  duTal^df^ey.  'Ex  ds  Tijg  ngog  flHXm- 
TiTjcrlovg'  Tolg  ovaiv  sp  flhXljinoig  avvEniaxonoig  xai  diaxovoig. 
OlfxaL  ds,  ox  I  in  Tiig  ngoxsgag  ngog  Tifio&svov  dvaXoyiaufXEVog 
TOVTO  ixXa^tlv  d'  Tig  yiig,  qjtjcn,  Tijg  eTnaxonilg  ogiysTat,  xaXov 
egyov  ijii&vjXBi'  dsl  ovv  tov  inlaxonov  dvtniXtjitTov  eivai. — Cited 
by  Rothe  from  Salmasius  Episcop.  et  Presb.,  p.  13. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  225 

Stance  which  this  scholiast  has  noticed  in  many  passages 
from  Gregory.  149 

It  is  truly  remarkable  how  long,  and  how  distinctly,  these 
views  of  the  original  identity  of  bishops  and  presbyters  were 
retained  in  the  church.  Isidorus  Hispalensis,  bishop  of 
Seville  in  Spain,  in  the  seventh  century,  and  one  of  the  most 
learned  men  of  that  age,  copies  with  approbation  the  author- 
ity of  Jerome  given  above,  as  an  expression  of  his  own  sen- 
timents. He  may  accordingly  be  regarded  as  expressing  the 
sentiments  of  the  Western  church  at  this  time. 

The  views  of  the  church  at  Alexandria,  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, have  already  been  expressed  in  the  extract  from  Euty- 
chius  given  above. 

Bernaldus  Constantiensis,  about  A.  D.  1088,  a  learned 
monk,  and  a  zealous  defender  of  Gregory  VII,  after  citing 
Jerome,  continues :  "  Inasmuch,  therefore,  as  bishops  and 
presbyters  were  anciently  the  same,  without  doubt  they  had 
the  same  power  to  loose  and  to  bind,  and  to  do  other  acts 
which  are  now  the  special  prerogatives  of  the  bishop.  But 
after  the  presbyters  began  to  be  restricted  by  Episcopal  pre- 
eminence, what  was  formerly  lawful  for  them  became  un- 
lawful. Ecclesiastical  authority  having  delegated  such  pre- 
rogatives to  the  prelates  alone." ^^o 

Even  pope  Urban  II.  1091,  says, — "We  regard  deacons 
and  presbyters  as  belonging  to  the  sacred  order,  since  these 
are  the  only  orders  which  the  primitive  church  is  said  to  have 
had.     For  these  only  have  we  apostolical  authority. "'51 

i4»  Greg.  Naz.,  Vol.  II.  p.  830.  Ed.  Colon.  1590.  Also  Ed.  Basil. 
1571,  pp.  262,  264. 

**°  Quum  igitur  presbyteri  etepiscopi  antiquitus,  idem  fuisse  legan- 
tur  etiam  eandem  ligandi  atque  solvendi  potestatem,  et  alia  nunc 
episcopis  specialia,  habuisse  non  dubitantur.  Postquam  autem  pres- 
byteri ab  episcopali  excellentia  cohibiti  sunt,  coepit  eis  non  licere 
quod  licuit,  videlicet  quod  ecclesiistica  auctoritas  solis  pontificibus  ex- 
equendum  delegavit. — De  Presbyterorum  officio  tract,  in  monumento- 
rum  res  AUeraannorura  illustrant.    S.  Bias,  1792,  4to.  Vol.  II.  384  seq. 

^^^  Sacros  autem  ordines  ducimus  diaconatum  et  presbyteratum. 


226  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Gratian  again,  a  benedictine,  eminent  for  his  learning  and 
talents,  a  century  later,  adopts  all  the  passages  cited  above 
from  Jerome,  ad  Tit.  l.i^^ 

Nicholas  Tudeschus,  archbishop  of  Panorm a,  about  A.  D. 
142S,  says  : — "  Formerly  presbyters  governed  the  church  in 
common,  and  ordained  the  clergy. ^^^^^ 

It  is  perhaps  still  more  remarkable  that  even  the  papal  ca- 
nonist, Jo.  Paul  Launcelot,  A.  D.  1570,  introduces  the  pas- 
sage from  Jerome  without  any  attempt  to  refute  it.i54 

Thus  all  through  the  middle  ages,  during  the  proudest  as- 
cendency of  prelatical  power,  the  doctrine  of  the  original 
equality  of  bishops  and  presbyters  was  acknowledged  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  as  is  attested  by  a  succession  of  the 
most  learned  of  her  clergy. 

Gieseler  remarks,  "  That  the  distinction  between  the  di- 
vine and  the  ecclesiastical  appointment,  institutio,  was  of 
less  importance  in  the  middle  ages  than  in  the  modern  catho- 
lic church,  and  this  view  of  the  original  identity  of  bishops 
and  presbyters,  was  of  no  practical  importance.  It  was  not 
till  after  the  Reformation  that  it  was  attacked.  Michael  de 
Medina,  about  A.  D.  1570,  does  not  hesitate  to  assert  that 
those  fathers  were  essentially  heretics;  but  adds,  that  out  of 
respect  for  these  fathers,  this  heresy  in  them  is  not  to  be  con- 
demned. Bellarmine  declares  this  a  '  very  inconsiderate  sen- 
timent.' Thenceforth  all  catholics,  as  well  as  English  Epis- 
copalians, maintain  an  original  difference  between  bishop  and 
presbyter."i55 

Hos  siquidem  solos  primitiva  legitur  ecclesia  habuisse  ;  super  his  so- 
lum preceptum  habemus  apostoli. — Cone.  Bencvent,  an.  1090.  can.  1. 

152  (Dist.  XCV.  c.  5.)  Epist.  ad  Evangel.  (Dist.  XCIII.  c.  24.)  and 
Isidori  His.  (Dist.  XXI.  c.  1). 

1*^  Super  prima  parte  Frimi,  cap.  5.  ed.  Lugdun,  1543,  fol.  1126. 
Olim  presbyteri  iu  commune  regebant  ecclesiam  et  ordinabant  sacer- 
dotes. 

154  Institute  juris  Canon.  Lib.  1.  Tit.  21.  §  3. 

155  Comp.  especially  Petavii  de  ecclesiastica  hierarchia  Lib.  5,  and 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  227 

In  view  of  the  whole  course  of  the  argument,  then,  have 
we  not  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  for  regarding  the  Episco- 
pal claim  of  an  original  distinction  between  bishops  and  pres- 
byters, as  a  groundless  assumption?  The  existence  of  such 
a  distinction  has  been  denied  by  prelates,  bishops,  and  learn- 
ed controversialists,  and  commentators,  both  in  the  Eastern, 
and  Western  churches,  of  every  age  down  to  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  was  unknown  to  those  early  fathers,  who  lived 
nearest  to  the  apostolical  age,  and  some  of  whom  were  the  im- 
mediate successors  of  the  apostles.  It  was  wholly  unauthorized 
by  the  apostles  themselves.  On  the  contrary,  they  assign  to 
bishops  and  presbyters  the  same  specific  duties.  They  re- 
quire in  both  the  same  qualifications.  They  address  them 
by  the  same  names  and  titles  interchangeably  and  indiscrimi- 
nately. Are  not  bishops  and  presbyters,  then,  one  and  the 
same  ? — the  same  in  office,  in  honor,  and  in  power ;  possess- 
ing equally  all  the  prerogatives,  rights,  and  privileges  of  those 
pastors  and  teachers,  to  whom  the  apostles,  at  their  decease, 
resigned  the  churches,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints, 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of 
Christ  ?  Or  must  we  believe  that  the  presbyter  after  all  is  a 
mere  subaltern  of  the  bishop;  ordained  of  God  to  perform 
only  the  humbler  offices  of  the  ministry,  and  to  supply  the 
bishop's  lack  of  service  ?     Must  we  believe  moreover,  that 

di'ssertatt.  theologic.  Lib.  1,  in  his  theolog.  dogmat.  Tom.  4.  p.  164. 
On  the  other  side,  WaJonis  Messalini,  (Claud.  Salmasii)  diss,  de  cpis- 
copis  et  presbyteris.  Lugd.  Bat.  1641,  8vo.  Dav.  Blondelli  apologia 
prosententia  Hieronymi  de  episcopis  ct  presbyteris.  Amstelod.  1616, 
4to.  Against  these  Hew.  llammondus  dissertatt.  IV.  quibus  episco- 
patus  juraex  sacra  scripturaet  prima antiquitate  adstrunnlur.  Loud. 
1651.  The  controversy  was  long  continued.  On  the  side  of  the  Epis- 
copalians, Jo.  Pearson.,  Guii.  Beveridge,  Henr  Dodwell,  Jos.  Bing- 
ham., Jac.  Usserivs.  On  that  of  the  Presbyterians,  Jo.  DaUacus,  Camp. 
Vitringa  ;  also  the  Lutherans,  Joach.  H/Jdebr and,  Just.  Hcnn.  Boeh- 
vier.,  Jo.  Franc,  Buddeus,  Christ.  Math.  Pfaff,  etc.  Comp.  Jo.  Phil. 
Gabltr  de  episcopis  primae  ecclesiae  Christ,  eorumque  origine  diss. 
Jenae,  1805,  4to. 


228  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  bishop,  this  honored  and  most  important  dignitary  of 
the  church,  in  whom  all  clerical  grace  centres,  and  to 
whose  hands  alone  has  been  intrusted  all  that  authority 
and  power,  the  proper  transmission  of  which  is  essential  to 
the  perpetuity  of  the  ministry  and  the  just  administration  of 
the  ordinances, — that  this  important  functionary  is  but  a 
nameless  nondescript,  known  by  no  title,  represented  by  no 
person,  or  class  of  persons  in  the  apostolical  churches,  and 
having  no  distinct,  specific  duties  prescribed  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament? All  this  may  be  asserted  and  re-affirmed,  as  a  thou- 
sand times  it  has  virtually  been ;  but  it  can  never  be  proved. 
It  must  be  received,  if  received  at  all,  with  blind  credulity ; 
not  on  reasonable  evidence.  Verily  this  vaunting  of  high 
church  Episcopacy  is  an  insult  to  reason ; — a  quiet  compla- 
cent assumption,  which  makes  "  implicit  faith  the  highest 
demonstration."  If  any  assertor  of  these  absurd  pretensions 
finds  himself  disquieted,  at  any  time,  by  the  renewed  remon- 
strances of  Scripture,  truth  and  reason,  in  order  to  repel  these 
impertinent  intruders  and  restore  the  equilibrium  of  his  mind, 
he  has  only  to  "  shake  his  head  and  tell  them  how  superior 
after  all  is  faith  to  logic!" 

The  foregoing  chapters  give  us  an  outline  of  that  ecclesi- 
astical organization  which  the  churches  received  from  the 
hands  of  the  apostles,  and  which  was  continued  in  the  primi- 
tive church  for  some  time  after  the  apostolic  age.  The  gov- 
ernment is  altogether  popular.  The  sovereign  authority  is 
vested  in  the  people.  From  them  all  the  laws  originate; 
through  them  they  are  administered.  The  government  gua- 
rantees to  all  its  members  the  enjoyment  of  equal  rights  and 
privileges,  secures  to  them  the  right  of  private  judgment,  ad- 
mits of  their  intervention  in  all  public  affairs.  It  extends  to 
all  the  right  of  suffrage.  Each  community  is  an  independent 
sovereignty,  whose  members  are  subject  to  no  foreign  eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction.      Their  confessions,  formularies  and 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  TRESBYTERS.  229 

terms  of  communion  are  formed  according  to  their  own  inter- 
pretation of  the  laws  of  God  ;  and  if  the  deportment  of  any- 
one is  subject  to  impeachment,  the  case  is  decided  by  the  im- 
partial verdict  of  his  brethren.  Their  officers  are  few  ;  and 
their  ministers,  equal  in  rank  and  power,  are  the  servants,  not 
the  lords  of  the  people.  The  entire  polity  of  tl^e  apostolical 
and  primitive  churches  was  framed  on  the  principles,  not  of 
a  monarchical  hierarchy,  but  of  a  popular  and  elective  gov- 
ernment. In  a  word,  it  was  a  republican  government  admin- 
istered with  republican  simplicity. 

This  exhibition  of  the  original  organization  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  suggests  a  variety  of  reflections,  some  of  which 
we  must  be  permitted,  before  closing  this  view  of  the  apos- 
tolical and  primitive  church,  to  suggest  to  the  consideration 
of  the  reader. 


REMARKS. 

1.  The  primitive  church  was  organized  as  a  purely  reli- 
gious society. 

It  had  for  its  object  the  promotion  of  the  great  interests  of 
morality  and  religion.  It  interfered  not  with  the  secular  or  pri- 
vate pursuits  of  its  members,  except  so  far  as  they  related  to  the 
great  end  for  which  the  church  was  formed, — the  promotion 
of  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  Whenever  the  Christian 
church  has  let  itself  down  to  mingle  or  interfere  with  the  se- 
cular pursuits  of  men,  the  only  result  has  been  her  own  dis- 
grace, and  the  dishonor  of  the  great  cause  which  she  was  set 
to  defend. 

2.  It  employed  only  moral  means  for  the  accomplishment 
of  religious  ends. 

The  apostles  sought,  by  kind  and  tender  entreaty,  to  re- 
claim the  wandering.  They  taught  the  church  to  do  the 
same ;  and  to  separate  the  unworthy  from  their  communion. 
20 


230  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

But  they  gave  no  countenance  to  the  exercise  of  arbitrary 
authority  over  the  conduct  or  the  consciences  of  men.  They 
neither  allowed  themselves,  nor  the  church,  to  exercise  any 
other  authority  than  that  of  the  word  of  God  and  of  Christ, 
enforced  by  instruction,  by  counsel  and  by  admonition.  They 
had  ever  before  them  the  beautiful  idea  of  a  religious  frater- 
nity,— its  members  united  in  the  bonds  of  faith  and  mutual  af- 
fection, and  striving  together  in  purity  and  love  for  the  pro- 
motion of  godliness. 

3.  The  church  was  at  first  free  from  all  entanglement  with 

the  state. 

It  had  no  affinity  with  the  existing  forms  of  state  government, 
and  no  connection  with  them.  It  vested  the  church  power 
in  the  only  appropriate  source  of  all  social  power, — in  the 
people.  It  is  only  in  this  voluntary  system,  in  which  neither 
state-power  nor  church-power  can  interfere  with  the  religious 
convictions  of  men,  that  the  church  of  Christ  finds  a  gua- 
ranty for  the  preservation  of  its  purity  and  the  exercise  of  its 
legitimate  influence. 

But  the  church  soon  began  to  be  assimilated"  to  the  form 
of  the  existing  civil  governments,  and  in  the  end  a  **  hie- 
rarchy of  bishops,  metropolitans,  and  patriarchs  arose,  corres- 
ponding to  the  graduated  rank  of  the  civil  administration, 
Ere-long  the  Roman  bishop  assumed  pre-eminence  above  all 
others." '^^  United  with  the  civil  authority  in  its  interests, 
assimilated  to  that  power  in  its  form  of  government,  and  secu- 
larized in  its  spirit,  the  church,  under  Constantine  and  his 
successors,  put  off  its  high  and  sacred  character,  and  became 
a  part  of  the  machinery  of  state  government.  It  first  truc- 
kled to  the  low  arts  of  state  policy,  and  afterwards,  with  insatia- 
ble ambition,  assumed  the  supreme  control  of  all  power,  human 
and  divine. 

4.  It  was  another  advantage  of  the  system  of  the  primitive 

1"  Ranke's  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Eng.  Trans.,  Vol.  1.  p.  29. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  231 

church,  that  it  was  fitted  to  any  form  of  civil  government, 
and  to  any  state  of  society. 

Voluntary  and  simple  in  their  organization,  entirely  re- 
moved from  all  connection  with  the  civil  government,  with 
no  confederate  relations  among  themselves,  and  seeking  only 
by  the  pure  precepts  of  religion  to  persuade  men  in  every 
condition  to  lead  quiet  and  holy  lives,  these  Christian  socie- 
ties were  adapted  to  any  state  of  society  and  any  form  of 
government.  This  primitive  Christianity  commended  itself, 
with  equal  facility,  to  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned  and 
the  unlearned,  the  high  and  the  low;  whether  it  addressed 
itself  to  the  soldier,  the  fisherman  or  the  peasant,  it  equally 
suited  their  condition.  It  gathered  into  its  communion  con- 
verts from  every  form  of  government,  of  every  species  of 
superstition,  and  of  every  condition  in  life,  and  by  its  whole- 
some truths  and  simple  rites  trained  them  up  for  eternal  life. 
Stern  and  uncompromising  in  its  purity  and  simplicity,  it 
stood  aloof  from  all  other  forms,  both  of  government  and  of 
religion.  It  neither  sought  favor  from  the  prejudice  of  the 
Gentile,  nor  the  bigotry  of  the  Jew.  It  yielded  compliance 
neither  to  the  despotism  of  Rome,  nor  to  the  democracy  of 
Greece,  while  it  could  live  and  flourish  under  either  govern- 
ment and  in  any  state  of  society.  Can  the  same  be  said 
whh  equal  propriety  of  Episcopacy?  Are  its  complicated 
forms  and  ceremonials,  its  robes  and  vestments,  its  rituals, 
and  all  its  solemn  pomp,  equally  adapted  to  every  state  of 
religious  feeling,  or  suited  alike  to  refined  society,  and  to 
rude  and  rustic  life  1  Are  all  its  complicated  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, its  grades  of  office,  its  diocesan  and  metropolitan 
confederacies,  and  its  monarchical  powers,  equally  conge- 
nial with  every  kind  of  civil  government? 

5.  It  subjected  the  clergy  to  salutary  restraints  by  bring- 
ing them,  in  their  official  character,  under  the  watch  of  the 
church. 

The  apostles,  as  we  have  already  seen,  recognized  their 


232  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

own  accountability  to  the  church.  This  continued  after- 
wards to  be  an  established  principle  in  the  primitive  church. 
The  consciousness  that  their  whole  life  was  open  to  the  judi- 
cial inspection  of  those  to  whom  they  ministered,  and  by 
whom  they  were  most  intimately  known,  could  not  fail  to 
create  in  the  clergy  a  salutary  circumspection,  the  restraints 
of  which,  an  independent  ministry  under  another  system  can 
never  feel. 

6.  It  served  to  guard  them  also  against  the  workings  of 
an  unholy  ambition,  a  thirst  for  office,  and  the  love  of  power. 

This  thought  is  necessarily  implied  in  the  preceding,  but  it 
is  of  such  importance  that  it  deserves  a  distinct  consideration. 
Those  disgraceful  contests  for  preferment,  the  recital  of 
which  crowds  the  page  of  history,  belong  to  a  later  age  and 
a  different  ecclesiastical  polity. 

7.  It  tended  also  to  guard  the  clergy  against  a  mercenary 
spirit. 

The  vast  wealth  of  a  church-establishment,  and  the  prince- 
ly revenues  of  its  incumbents,  offer  an  incentive  to  this  sor- 
did passion  which  Paul  in  his  poverty  could  never  have  felt, 
and  which  none  can  ever  feel,  who  are  contented  to  receive 
only  a  humble  competence,  as  a  voluntary  offering  at  the 
hands  of  those  for  whom  they  labor. 

8.  The  system  was  well  suited  to  guard  the  church  from 
the  evils  of  a  sectarian  spirit. 

In  the  church  of  Christ  were  Jews,  jealous  for  the  law  of 
their  fathers.  There  were  also  Greeks,  who,  independent  of 
the  Mosaic  economy,  had  received  the  gospel  and  become 
Christians,  without  being  Jews  in  spirit.  Had  now  the 
church  assumed  the  form  of  a  national  establishment,  with 
its  prescribed  articles  of  faith,  its  ritual,  etc.,  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive  how  the  opposing  views  of  these  different  parties 
could  have  been  harmonized.  The  older  apostles,  with  the 
Jews,  might  have  maintained  with  greater  firmness  their  Jew- 
ish prejudice  as  they  observed  the  pure  direction  of  Chris- 


EQUALITY  OP  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  233 

tianity  in  Paul  and  his  Gentile  converts,  who  again  might 
have  been  more  determined  in  their  opposition  to  a  Judaiz- 
ing  spirit.  So  that  these  germinating  differences  might  have 
ended  in  an  irreconcilable  opposition.  As  it  was,  this  dis- 
turbing influence  was  strongly  manifested  in  all  the  churches, 
so  that  it  required  all  the  wisdom  and  influence  of  the  apos- 
tles to  unite  their  Christian  converts  in  an  organization  so 
simple  as  that  which  they  did  establish. 

9.  It  left  the  apostles  and  pastors  free  to  pursue  their  great 
work,  without  let  or  hindrance  from  ecclesiastical  authority 
or  partizan  zeal. 

It  allowed  free  scope  for  the  fervid  zeal  of  the  early  pro- 
mulgators of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  permitted  them  to 
range  at  large  in  their  missionary  tours  for  the  conversion  of 
men,  unrestrained  by  the  rules  of  ecclesiastical  authority  or 
canonical  laws.  An  explanation,  given  and  received  in  the 
spirit  of  mutual  confidence,  reconciled  the  brethren  whose 
prejudice  was  excited  by  the  preaching  of  Peter  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. The  unhappy  division  between  Paul  and  Barnabas 
ended  in  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel,  both  being  at  liberty, 
notwithstanding  this  sinful  infirmity,  to  prosecute  their  la- 
bors for  the  salvation  of  men  without  being  arrested  by  the 
ban  of  a  hierarchy,  or  trammelled  by  ecclesiastical  jealousy, 
lest  the  souls  whom  one  or  the  other  should  win  to  Christ, 
might  chance  not  to  be  canonically  converted. 

10.  The  order  of  the  primitive  church  was  calculated  to 
preserve  peace  and  harmony  among  the  clergy. 

One  in  rank  and  power,  and  holding  the  tenure  of  their 
office  at  the  will  of  their  people,  they  had  few  temptations, 
comparatively,  to  engage  in  strife  one  with  another  for  pre- 
ferment; or  to  repine  at  the  advancement  of  one  of  their 
number,  who  by  his  superior  qualifications  was  promoted  to 
some  commanding  post  of  usefulness  above  them. 

We  know  indeed  that  Jerome  assigns  the  origin  of  Epis- 
copacy to  the  ambitious  contentions  of  the  clergy  in  the 
20* 


234  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

primitive  church ;  as  though  this  were  an  expedient  to  heal 
their  divisions.  Now,  if  this  be  true,  we  have  only  to  say, 
that  the  remedy  proved  to  be  infinitely  worse  than  the  evil 
which  it  would  cure.  All  the  ecclesiastical  historians  of  an- 
tiquity most  fully  and  strongly  attest  the  fact,  that  after  the 
rise  of  diocesan  Episcopacy,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Tarious  grades  of  the  hierarchy,  the  spirit  of  faction  rose 
high  among  the  clergy.  Insatiable  ambition  possessed  all 
•orders  among  the  priesthood,  raging  like  a  pestilence  through 
their  several  ranks.  The  age  of  Constantine  and  his  suc- 
cessors, within  which  the  system  of  prelacy  was  matured, 
was  pre-eminently  the  age  of  clerical  ambition. 

"  In  the  age  we  speak  of,  which  seems  too  justly  styled 
ambitionis  saeculum,  the  age  of  ambition, — though  those, 
whose  designs  agree  with  the  humor  of  it,  have  esteemed 
it  most  imitable, — scarce  any  in  the  church  could  keep  their 
own,  that  had  any  there  greater  than  themselves ;  some 
bishops,  and  not  only  the  presbyters  found  it  so,  the  great 
still  encroaching  upon  those,  whose  lower  condition  made 
them  obnoxious  to  the  ambition  and  usurpation  of  the  more 
potent. 

"In  that  unhappy  time,  what  struggling  was  there  in 
bishops  of  all  sorts  for  more  greatness  and  larger  power  ! 
What  tugging  at  councils  and  court  for  these  purposes  !"158 

Socrates,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  A.  D.  439,  alleges 
that  he  has  intermingled  the  history  of  the  wars  of  those 
times,  as  a  relief  to  the  reader,  that  he  may  not  be  continu- 
ally detained  with  the  ambitious  contentions,  qjilonma,  of 
the  bishops,  and  their  plots  and  counter-plots  against  each 
other.1^9     But  more  of  this  hereafter. 

11.  It  was  also  happily  suited  to  ensure  to  the  people  a 
useful  and  efficient  ministry. 

Select  a  few  from  among  their  ministerial  brethren,  exalt 

^58  Clarkson's  Primitive  Episcopacy,  pp.  142,143. 
-159  Introduction  to  Lib.  5. 


fiQUALlTV  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  235 

them  to  the  high  places  of  Episcopal  power,  encircle  them 
with  the  mitre,  the  robe,  and  all  the  "  paraphernalia  of  pon- 
tifical dignity,"  enthrone  them  securely  in  authority,  settle 
them  quietly  in  their  palaces  to  enjoy  the  ample  benefices  of 
an  irresponsible  office ;  and,  however  gratifying  may  be  the 
favors  which  you  have  bestowed,  you  have  done  little  to  ad- 
vance their  ministerial  usefulness. 

Besides,  the  days  of  a  bishop's  activity  and  usefulness 
soon  pass  away,  but  his  office  still  remains.  Though  passed 
into  "  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf  of  age,"  he  bears  his  blush- 
ing honors  still  upon  him.  In  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
indeed,  he  can  scarcely  be  expected  to  resign  his  office; 
neither  can  he,  it  should  seem,  even  if  he  would;  for  "  when 
once  made  bishop,  and  when  he  has  thus  received  the  indeli- 
ble, invisible  mark  of  Episcopal  grace,  he  is  absolutely  shut 
up  to  the  necessity  of  continuing  in  office,  however  unwor- 
thy or  unfit  he  may  prove  or  find  himself  to  be."'60 

What  an  incumbrance  to  the  ministrations  of  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  again,  are  the  forms,  and  rites,  and  observan- 
ces of  the  Episcopal  service.  Here  are  thirty-six  festivals, 
and  one  hundred  fasts,  as  specified  in  the  prayer  book,  an- 
nually claiming  the  attention  of  the  preacher.  Then  there 
is  the  "  holy  catholic  church ;"  the  mysteries  of  the  sacra- 
ments, baptismal  regeneration,  and  the  awful  presence  in  the 

J6»  Constit.  and  Canons  of  Prot.  Epis.  Church,  pp.  301,  303.  "  So 
far,"  says  Dr.  Hawks,  "  as  our  research  has  extended,  this  law  is 
without  a  precedent  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  church.  We 
may  be  mistaken,  but  we  believe  that  ours  is  the  first  church  in 
Christendom,  that  ever  legislated  for  the  express  purpose  of  prevent- 
ing Episcopal  resignations ;  for  this  canon  prescribes  so  many  re- 
strictions, that  the  obstacles  render  it  almost  impossible  for  a  bishop 
to  lay  down  his  jurisdiction.  The  matter  is  one  which  the  practice 
of  the  church  has  heretofore  left  to  be  settled  between  God  and  the 
conscience  of  the  bishops;  and  it  may  well  be  questioned,  whether  it 
be  not  best  in  all  cases,  there  to  leave  it." — Cited  from  Smyth's  EccL 
Republicanism^  p.  167. 


236  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

elements  of  the  eucharist ;  the  holy  order  of  bishops ;  "  the 
ascending  orders  of  the  hierarchy ;"  "  the  most  excellent 
liturgy ;"  the  validity  of  Episcopal  ordination,  "  covenant 
mercies,"  etc.  etc.,  all  pressing  their  claims  on  the  attention 
of  the  Episcopal  minister,  and  demanding  a  place  in  the  min- 
istrations of  the  pulpit. 

Add  to  these  the  sublimer  doctrines  of  prelacy.  Let  him 
begin  to  discourse  about  apostolic  succession,  divine  right, 
postures,  attitudes,  **  wax  candles,  altar-cloths,  chaplets, 
crosses,  crucifixes,  and  mummery  of  all  kinds," — and  it  is 
not  difficult  to  conjecture  what  place  the  great  doctrine  of 
Christ  and  him  crucified  must  hold  in  his  teachings,  or  what 
efficacy  his  ministry  will  have  in  winning  souls  to  Christ  by 
the  preaching  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  So  it  was  with 
the  mediaeval  church.  "  No  one  can  read  the  writings  of 
the  fathers,  without  feeling  that  they  gradually  became  more 
intent  on  the  circumstantials  of  religion  than  on  the  essence 
of  it ;  more  solicitous  about  the  modes  in  which  religious  du- 
ties should  be  performed,  than  about  the  spirit  of  them.  It 
is  all  over  with  religion  when  this  is  the  case." 

But  how  different  from  all  this  was  the  ministry  of  Christ 
and  of  the  apostles.  Armed  with  the  panoply  of  heaven, — 
the  word  of  God  alone,  the  sword  of  the  spirit, — the  first 
preachers  of  the  Christian  religion  went  forth,  conquering 
and  to  conquer.  By  the  simple  instrumentality  of  the  word, 
mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds,  they 
quickly  spread  the  triumphs  of  the  cross  through  every  land 
and  carried  up  their  conquests  to  the  very  throne  of  the  Cae- 
sars. Be  ours  a  religion  that  creates  and  enjoys  such  a  min- 
istry. 

12.  This  primitive  system  served  to  make  an  efficient 
laity. 

Instead  of  excluding  them  from  the  concerns  of  the 
church,  like  some  other  forms  of  church  government,  and 
requiring  of  them  chiefly  to  attend  to  their  forms  of  wor- 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  237 

ship  and  pay  their  taxes,  this  primitive  system  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal polity  devolved  upon  the  members  of  the  church  the 
duties  of  discipline,  and  the  care  of  the  church.  It  trained 
them  to  live  and  to  care  for  the  interests  of  religion.  It 
quickened  their  graces,  by  calling  them  into  habitual  exer- 
cise. It  gave  an  efficient  practical  character  to  their  reli- 
gion. Look  at  those  churches  in  England  and  America 
which  bear  the  closest  resemblance  to  this  primitive  organi- 
zation. Observe  their  members  in  the  private  walks  of  life. 
Look  at  their  efficiency  in  missionary  operations,  their  noble 
charities,  and  their  generous  labors  in  every  department  of 
Christian  benevolence.  They  are  not  merely  devout  wor- 
shippers within  the  church,  and  decent  moralists  without, 
but  everywhere  eminently  intelligent,  efficient  and  liberal. 
They  serve  God  as  well  as  worship  him.  Not  content  mere- 
ly to  cultivate  the  private  virtues  of  the  Christian,  the  laity 
gain  a  habit  of  counselling  and  acting  for  the  church  and 
for  their  fellow-men,  which  gives  to  their  religion  an  enter- 
prising, practical,  business  character.  An  absolute  govern- 
ment, on  the  other  hand,  whether  civil  or  religious,  which 
separates  the  people  from  participation  in  its  administration, 
forms  in  them  the  habit  of  living  and  caring  only  for  them- 
selves ;  and  the  result  is  a  retiring,  negative  character,  a  ser- 
vile, selfish  spirit.  The  impress  of  a  despotic  government 
upon  the  character  of  a  people  is  as  clear  as  the  light  of  the 
sun  in  the  heavens;  and,  so  long  as  like  causes  produce  sim- 
ilar effects,  the  results  of  a  spiritual  despotism  may  be  seen 
in  an  inactive,  inefficient  laity.  Noble  examples  to  the  con- 
trary there  may  be ;  just  as  there  may  be  found  individuals 
of  generous  impulses  and  lofty  aspirations,  in  those  countries 
whose  government  is  most  despotic,  who  burst  away  from  the 
thraldom  of  their  condition,  and  rise  superior  to  the  enerva- 
ting, depressing  influences,  which  act  disastrously  upon  men 
of  ordinary  minds.     But  the  general  character  of  any  peo» 


238  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

pie  is  moulded  and  formed  by  the  government,  civil  and  re- 
ligious, under  which  they  live. 

Of  drones,  monks,  sinecurists,  and  cloistered  Christians 
even,  content  in  seclusion  to  cultivate  merely  the  retired  vir- 
tues of  private  life,  careless  of  a  world  lying  in  wickedness, 
so  they  may  themselves  but  safely  be  raised  to  heaven  at  last 
— of  all  such  the  church  has  had  enough.  But  the  true 
church  of  Christ  demands  men  who  shall  not  forget  to  do 
good,  and  to  communicate  to  all  men  as  they  may  have  op- 
portunity.i^i  Her  present  exigencies  call  for  working-men, 
in  the  best  sense  of  the  phrase ;  men  who  shall  live,  not  unto 
themselves,  but  for  their  Lord  and  Master,  and  for  the  souls 
which  he  has  redeemed  by  his  own  blood.  And  that  is  the 
best  religious  system,  which  trains,  in  the  happiest  manner 
and  in  greatest  numbers,  such  working-men  for  the  church 
of  Christ. 

^^*  The  superior  liberality  and  enterprise  of  those  religious  denomi- 
nations now  under  consideration,  is  noticed  by  a  correspondent  in  a 
late  number  of  the  Episcopal  Recorder. 

"  O,  that  we  had  the  zeal  of  some  other  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians, against  whom  we  too  often  boast  ourselves,  but  whose  liberality 
puts  our  penuriousness  to  open  shame.  It  is  but  a  few  days  since  a 
single  firm  in  this  city,  consisting  of  three  members,  gave  ^15,000  to 
sustain  the  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York,  yet 
Bishop  Mcllvaine,  wanting  little  more  than  this  same  sum,  to  relieve 
one  of  the  noblest  of  the  institutions  of  our  church,  has  to  beg  from 
city  to  city,  from  rich  to  poor,  and  is  at  this  moment  in  anxious  sus- 
pense whether  his  mission  may  not  fail,  because  men  are  lovers  of 
their  own  selves,  instead  of  being  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ 
to  give  freely  of  what  they  have  so  freely  received.  It  may  be  stated 
as  a  humiliating  fact,  showing  the  low  estate  of  our  church,  that  no 
sum  above  ^'250  has  yet  been  received  from  any  one  in  aid  of  Kenyon 
College,  though  numbers  reside  in  this  city  who  could  cancel  the 
debt  themselves,  and  never  feel  the  loss  of  so  trifling  a  sum.  When 
shall  we  see  men  awakening  to  a  sense  of  their  responsibility  and 
their  stewardship  to  God  ^  When  shall  we  hear  them  exclaim,  with 
Zaccheus,  '  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor .''  " — Epis. 
Rec.  Oct.  21,  1843. 


EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  239 

"  When  every  good  Christian,  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
all  those  glorious  privileges  of  sanctification  and  adoption, 
which  render  him  more  sacred  than  any  dedicated  altar  or 
element,  shall  be  restored  to  his  right  in  the  church,  and  not 
excluded  from  such  place  of  spiritual  government  as  his 
Christian  abilities  and  his  approved  good  life  in  the  eye  and 
testimony  of  the  church  shall  prefer  him  to,  this  and  nothing 
sooner  will  open  his  eyes  to  a  wise  and  true  valuation  of  him- 
self, which  is  so  requisite  and  high  a  point  of  Christianity, 
and  will  stir  him  up  to  walk  worthy  the  honorable  and  grave 
employment  wherewith  God  and  the  church  hath  dignified 
him,  not  fearing  lest  he  should  meet  with  some  outward  holy 
thing  in  religion  which  his  lay  touch  or  presence  might  pro- 
fane, but  lest  something  unholy  from  within  his  own  heart 
should  dishonor  and  profane  in  himself  that  priestly  unction 
and  clergy-right  whereto  Christ  hath  entitled  him.  Then 
would  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  soon  recover  the  true 
likeness  and  visage  of  what  she  is  indeed,  a  holy  generation, 
a  royal  priesthood,  a  saintly  communion,  the  household  and 
city  of  God.  And  this  I  hold  to  be  another  considerable 
reason  why  the  functions  of  church  government  ought  to  be 
free  and  open  to  any  Christian  man,  though  never  so  laic,  if 
his  capacity,  his  faith,  and  prudent  demeanor  commend  him. 
And  this  the  apostles  warrant  us  to  do."^62 

13.  Such  a  system  of  religion  as  that  which  we  have  been 
contemplating,  harmonizes  with  and  fosters  our  free  insti- 
tutions. 

In  the  same  state,  the  forms  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment will  be  in  harmony  with  each  other.  There  is  a 
mutual  relation  and  adaptation  between  our  free,  republican 
government  and  a  popular  ecclesiastical  organization  like 
that  of  the  apostolical  and  primitive  church.  Such  a  system 
harmonizes  with  our  partialities  and  prejudices  ;  it  coincides 
with  our  national  usages ;  it  is  congenial  with  all  our  civil  in- 

»62  Milton's  Prose  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  16T. 


240  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

stitutions.  This  is  a  consideration  of  great  importance.  It 
is  enough  of  itself  to  outweigh,  a  thousand-fold,  all  that  has  ever 
been  urged  in  favor  of  prelacy.  Indeed,  the  spiritual  despot- 
ism of  that  system,  its  absolute  monarchical  powers,  consti- 
tute one  strong  objection  to  it.  It  is  the  religion  of  despots 
and  tyrants.  Such  in  its  papal  form  it  has  always  been  ;  and 
such,  we  cannot  doubt,  is  still  one  inherent  characteristic  of 
high,  exclusive  Episcopacy,  however  it  may  be  modified  by 
circumstances.  The  church  of  England,  from  the  time  of 
its  establishment,  says  Macaulay,  "  continued  to  be,  for  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  servile  handmaid  of 
monarchy,  the  steady  enemy  of  public  liberty."^63  James, 
the  tyrant  of  that  age,  uniformly  silenced  every  plea  in  behalf 
of  the  Puritans,  with  the  significant  exclamation,  *'  No  bishop, 
no  king."  So  indispensable  is  the  hierarchy  to  a  monarchy. 
But  in  a  free  republic  it  is  a  monstrous  anomaly. 

On  the  other  hand,  be  it  remembered,  "  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  emphatically  a  republican  book.  It  sanctions  no 
privileged  orders ;  it  gives  no  exclusive  rights.  All,  who  im- 
bibe its  spirit  and  obey  its  precepts,  are  recognized  as  equals  ; 
children  of  the  same  Father ;  brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ, 
and  heirs  to  a  common  inheritance.  In  the  spirit  of  these 
kind  and  endearing  relations,  the  first  Christians  formed  them- 
selves into  little  republican  communities,  acknowledging  no 
head  but  Jesus  Christ,  and  regulating  all  their  concerns  by 
mutual  consultation  and  a  popular  vote  of  the  brotherhood. 
In  these  distinct  and  independent  societies  was  realized  for 
the  first  time  in  this  world  the  perfect  idea  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty. 

"  The  Puritans  imbibed  the  same  spirit,  and  derived  their 
principles  from  the  same  pure  source  of  light,  of  holiness  and 
freedom.  They  modeled  their  churches  after  the  primitive 
form,  and  founded  them  on  the  basis  of  entire  independence 
and  equality  of  rights.     Twice  in  their  native  land  had  they 

*^  Miscellanies,  Boston  ed.  1.  p.  249. 


•  EQUALITY  OF  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  241 

saved  the  British  constitution  from  being  crushed  by  the  usur- 
pations of  the  Stuarts ;  and  Hume,  who  was  never  backward 
to  reproach  both  their  character  and  their  principles,  is  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  that  what  of  liberty  breathes  in  that 
constitution  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the  Puri- 
tans. i64  These  were  the  men  who  settled  New-England. 
They  came  here  bearing  in  their  bosoms  the  sacred  love  of 
liberty  and  religion;  and  ere  they  left  the  little  bark  that  had 
borne  them  across  the  ocean,  th6y  formed  themselves  *  into  a 
civil  body  politic,'  having  for  its  basis  this  fundamental  prin- 
ciple, that  they  should  he  ruled  hy  the  majority.  Here  is 
brought  out  the  grand  idea  of  a  free,  elective  government. 
Here  is  the  germ  of  that  tree  of  liberty  which  now  rears  its  lofty 
top  to  the  heavens,  spreading  its  branches  over  the  length  and 
breadth  of  our  land,  and  under  whose  shade  seventeen  mil- 
lions of  freemen  are  reposing.  The  spirit  of  all  our  free,  civil, 
and  religious  institutions  was  in  the  breasts  of  our  pilgrim- 
fathers. 

"  How  striking  is  the  resemblance  between  the  churches 
planted  by  the  apostles,  and  those  established  in  this  land  by 
our  venerated  fathers?  Well  may  we  believe  them,  when 
they  say,  that  the  primitive,  apostolic  churches  were  the  only 
pattern  they  had  in  their  eye  in  organizing  the  churches  of 
New-England.  They  certainly  well  understood  their  pattern 
and  were  singularly  happy  in  imitating  it."i65 

"  Many  more  graceful  and  more  winning  forms  of  human 

'^■^  "  So  absolute,  indeed,  was  the  authority  of  the  crown,  that  the 
precious  spark  of  liberty  had  been  kindled  and  was  preserved  by  the 
Puritans  ;  and  it  was  to  this  sect,  whose  principles  appear  so  frivoloug^ 
and  habits  so  ridiculous,  that  the  English  owe  the  whole  freedom  of 
their  constitution."  Again,  "  It  was  only  during  the  next  generation 
that  the  noble  principles  of  liberty  took  root,  and  spreading  themselves 
under  the  shelter  of  Puritanical  absurdities,  became  fashionable  among 
the  people. — Hume's  Eng.  Vol.  V.  pp.  183,  469. 

'^^  Hawes's  Tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  Pilgrims,  pp.  61 — 63, 
83,  84. 

21 


242  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

nature  there  have  been,  and  are,  and  shall  be ;  many  men, 
many  races  there  are,  and  have  been,  and  shall  be,  of  more 
genial  dispositions,  more  tasteful  accomplishments,  a  quicker 
eye  for  the  beautiful  of  art  and  nature,  less  disagreeably  ab- 
sorbed, less  gloomily  careful  and  troubled  about  the  mighty 
interests  of  the  spiritual  being,  or  of  the  commonwealth.  .  .  . 
But  where,  in  the  long  series  of  ages  that  furnish  the  matter 
of  history,  was  there  ever  one, — where  one,  better  fitted  by  the 
possession  of  the  highest  traits  of  man,  to  do  the  noblest  work 
of  man ;  better  fitted  to  consummate  and  establish  the  Re- 
formation,— to  save  the  English  constitution,  at  its  last  gasp, 
from  the  fate  of  other  European  constitutions,  and  prepare, 
on  the  granite  and  iced  mountain  summits  of  the  new  world, 
a  still  better  rest  for  a  still  better  liberty  ?"i66 

In  conclusion,  we  would  acknowledge,  with  devout  grati- 
tude to  God,  the  rich  inheritance  which  we  have  received 
from  our  puritan  forefathers,  in  the  religious  institutions 
which  they  have  transmitted  to  us. 

They  have  given  us  a  religion,  more  nearly  allied,  both  in 
spirit  and  in  form,  to  scriptural  Christianity,  than  any  other 
that  has  ever  risen  upon  the  world, — a  religion,  more  abun- 
dant in  blessings,  and  more  highly  to  be  prized  than  any 
other;  a  religion,  from  which  the  whole  American  system, 
with  all  its  institutions,  social,  civil  and  religious,  has  arisen. 
Our  pilgrim  fathers,  while  at  anchor  off  our  coast,  and  before 
they  set  foot  upon  these  shores,  after  solemn  prayer  to  the 
God  of  nations,  entered  mutually  into  a  solemn  compact,  on 
board  the  Mayflower,  to  establish  a  government  here  **  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  advancement  of  the  Christian 
faith."  With  this  intent  they  landed  and  entered  upon  their 
great  work,  as  if  conscious  of  their  high  destiny,  reared  up 
by  God  to  establish  and  extend  those  principles  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom  which  they  had  so  nobly  defended  in  their 

166  Speech  of  Hon.  Rufus  Choate  before  N.  Eng.  Soc.  N.  York, 
Dec.  25, 1843. 


EQUALITY  OF  BtSHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  243 

father-land.  There  they  had  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things 
and  shed  their  blood,  freely,  in  their  inflexible  adherence  to 
these  principles.  Harassed  and  wearied,  but  not  dismayed, 
by  their  continual  bonds,  imprisonments,  and  persecutions  at 
home,  and  by  their  exile  abroad,  they  resolved  to  seek  an 
asylum  in  tjie  wilderness  of  the  new  world,  where,  in  peace- 
ful seclusion,  they  might  establish  a  government  '  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith.' 
The  Bible  was  their  statute-book ;  and  their  religion,  that 
primitive  Christianity  which  God  gave  to  the  world  through 
the  medium  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles.  In  fulfilment  of 
their  design,  their  first  care  was  to  set  up  the  tabernacle  of 
the  Lord  in  this  wilderness.  They  erected  the  church,  and 
fast  by  this  the  school-house ;  then  the  court-house,  the  acad- 
emy, the  college,  while  yet  they  were  of  one  faith  and  one 
name.  No  other  form  of  religion  was  known,  in  this  land  of 
the  pilgrims,  until  the  great  principles  of  the  American  system 
were  developed,  and  established  here  by  our  puritan  forefa- 
thers. 

The  truth  is,  they  were  no  ordinary  men.  They  lived  for 
no  ordinary  purpose.  They  were  men,  the  most  remarkable 
that  the  world  has  ever  produced.  They  lived  for  a  nobler 
end,  for  a  higher  destiny  than  any  others  that  have  ever  lived. 
These  are  the  men  to  whom  New-England  owes  her  religion 
with  all  the  blessings,  social,  civil,  and  literary,  that  follow  in 
its  train.  These  are  the  venerable  men  whose  blood  still  flows 
in  our  veins,  and  into  whose  inheritance  we  have  entered. 
Peace  to  their  silent  shades.  Fragrant  as  the  breath  of  morn- 
ing be  their  memory.  The  winds  of  two  centuries  have  swept 
over  their  graves.  The  effacing  hand  of  time  has  well  nigh 
worn  away  the  perishable  monuments  which  may  have  marked 
the  spot  where  sleeps  their  honored  dust.  But  they  still  live. 
They  live  in  the  immortal  principles  which  they  taught ; — in 
the  enduring  institutions  which  they  established.  They  live 
in  the  remembrance  of  a  grateful  posterity ;  and  they  will  live 


244  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHUftCH. 

on,  through  all  time,  in  the  gratitude  of  unborn  generations, 
who,  in  long  succession,  shall  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed. 
And  shall  we,  "who  keep  the  graves,  and  bear  the  names,  and 
boast  the  blood"  of  these  men,  disown  their  church,  or  cast 
out  as  evil,  and  revile  their  religion?  No;  by  the  memory 
of  these  noble  men;  by  their  holy  lives,  their  heavenly  princi- 
ples, their  sacred  institutions;  by  the  sustaining  strength 
which  they  themselves  are  still  giving  to  our  own  freedom, 
and  to  the  great  cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  through- 
out the  earth, — let  us  never  give  up  the  religion  of  our  fathers. 
No,  never,  never ! 

But  we  have  seen  of  late  years  several  young  men,  of  a  cer- 
tain cast  of  character,  annually  straying  away  from  the  fold  of 
their  fathers,  and  coldly  exchanging  their  own  religious  birth- 
right for  a  more  imposing  ritual,  encumbered  with  a  mass  of 
anti-scriptural  ceremonials,  and  withal,  sadly  deficient  in  the 
means  of  spiritual  improvement.  And  other  young  aspirants 
there  may  be,  recreant  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  and  eager  to 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their  apostatizing  predecessors. 
Well,  be  it  so.  If  there  be  any  who  find  themselves  seized 
with  a  desire  to  forsake  the  altar  and  communion  of  their 
fathers,  and  to  consign  their  sainted  ancestors,  together  with 
their  kindred  according  to  the  flesh,  and  their  brethren  in 
Christ,  with  whom  they  have  often  sat  at  the  table  of  the 
Lord, — the  very  lambs  of  the  flock  it  may  be,  whom  they 
themselves  have  gathered  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  and  sought 
gently  to  lead  in  the  path  of  life, — if,  I  say,  they  can  now 
leave  all  these,  with  "  cool  atrocity, "  to  "  uncovenanted 
mercy," — if  such  be  the  humor  of  their  mind,  be  it  so ;  but 
if  they  have  yet  an  ear  to  hear,  there  is  a  voice  of  gentle  ad- 
monition to  which  they  do  well  to  give  heed.  From  the 
dying  lips  of  puritan  ancestry  it  calls  to  them  in  tones  of  kind 
but  earnest  remonstrance,  "We  doearnestly  testifjithatif  any 
who  are  given  to  change,  do  rise  up  to  unhinge  the  well  es- 
tablished churches  in  this  land,  it  will  be  the  duty  and  inter- 


EQUALITY  6T  BISHOPS  AND  PRESBYTERS.  245 

est  of  the  churches  to  examine  whether  the  men  of  this  tres- 
pass are  more  prayerful,  more  zealous,  more  patient,  more 
heavenly,  more  universally  conscientious,  and  harder  students 
and  better  scholars,  and  more  willing  to  be  informed  and  ad- 
vised, than  those  great  and  good  men  who  left  unto  the 
churches  what  they  now  enjoy.  If  they  be  not  so,  it  will  be 
wisdom  to  forbear  pulling  down,  with  their  own  hands,  the 
houses  of  God  which  were  built  by  their  wiser  fathers,  until 
they  have  better  satisfaction."  159 

^*'  Rev.  John  Higginson  and  Rev.  William  Hubbard. 


21* 


CHAPTER  VII 


RISE  OF  EPISCOPACY. 


At  what  period  the  republican  principle,  in  the  primitive 
•church,  began  to  give  place  to  the  aristocratic  and  monarchi- 
cal element,  is  not  distinctly  known.  It  is,  however,  admit- 
ted by  Dean  Waddington,  "  that  the  spirit  of  religion  and  the 
first  government  of  the  church  was  popular  ;"  and  that  "  the 
Episcopal  government  was  clearly  not  yet  established,"  at  the 
close  of  the  first  century,  when  Clement  wrote.  Riddle  makes 
essentially  the  same  concession ;  and  with  him  many  other 
Episcopalians.  Such,  indeed,  seems  to  be  the  acknowledged 
opinion  of  that  class  of  this  denomination  who  disclaim  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  Episcopacy. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  generally  conceded  that  the  popu- 
lar form  of  government  in  the  church,  began  gradually  to 
change  into  one  more  despotic,  soon  after  the  age  of  the  apos- 
tles. Those  changes  in  the  organization  of  the  apostolical 
churches,  which  finally  terminated  in  the  Episcopal  system, 
began,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  as  early  as  the  first  half  of  the 
second  century.  Many  others,  with  greater  probability,  refer 
the  commencement  of  the  transition  to  the  second  half  of  the 
same  century.  Nothing  appears  in  history  to  define  with 
precision  the  period  when  the  change  in  question  began.  It 
was  doubtless  different  in  different  churches.  Resulting 
gradually,  and  almost  imperceptibly,  from  many  causes,  it 
was  unnoticed  at  first,  or  left  unrecorded  in  the  scanty  re- 
cords of  that  early  period  which  still  remain. 


RISE  OF  EPISCOPACY.  5547 

The  Episcopal  hierarchy  had  its  origin  undoubtedly  in 
what  may  be  denominated  the  parochial  system.  This  term 
denotes  the  intermediate  state  of  the  church,  in  its  transition 
from  the  primitive,  apostolical  form,  to  that  of  the  diocesan 
confederacy.  The  churches,  in  the  principal  towns,  gradu- 
ally gained  a  controlling  influence  over  those  which  were 
planted  in  the  country  around.  And  the  clergy  of  these  cen- 
tral churches  came,  by  degrees,  into  similar  relations  to  their 
brethren  in  the  country.  So  that  both  minister  and  people 
of  the  city  became,  through  the  operation  of  various  causes, 
the  centre  of  influence  and  power  over  the  feeble  churches 
which  gradually  sprang  up  in  the  neighboring  country.  The 
church  of  the  metropolis  became,  in  the  quaint  style  of  church 
history,  the  mother-church,  to  smaller,  dependent  fraternities 
in  the  country ;  and  the  clerical  head  of  this  church,  the  prin- 
cipal man  among  his  brethren,  the  presiding  officer  of  their 
assemblies  and  councils.  This  accidental  ascendency  of  the 
central  church,  and  of  its  clergy,  led  on  to  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  Episcopal  system;  and,  finally,  ended  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  popular  government  of  the  primitive  church. 

This  chapter,  therefore  will  be  devoted  to  a  consideration 
of  the  causes  which  gave,  both  to  the  churches  and  to  the 
bishops  of  the  principal  cities,  that  increasing  ascendency 
and  power,  from  which  we  trace  the  rise  of  Episcopacy. 

I.  Of  the  ascendency  of  the  churches  in  the  cities  over 
those  in  the  country. 

The  gospel  was  first  preached  in  large  cities  and  towns, 
such  as  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Ephesus,  and  Corinth.  Here 
were  the  earliest  churches  founded.  These  churches  now 
became  central  points  of  effort  and  of  influence  for  the  exten- 
sion of  Christianity  in  the  region  round  about.  The  apostles 
themselves,  sometimes  made  such  missionary  excursions  into 
the  neighboring  towns  and  villages.  Acts  8:  25.  9:  32.  Simi- 
lar efforts  were  doubtless  continued  and  greatly  extended,  by 


248  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  pastors  and  converts  of  those  central  churches.  The 
promptings  of  Christian  benevolence  naturally  directed  them 
to  such  efforts.  Clement  represents  the  apostles  to  have  es- 
tablished churches,  in  this  manner,  both  in  the  cities  and  in 
the  country. 

The  early  Christians  were  often  dispersed  abroad,  also,  by 
persecution ;  and,  like  the  first  Christians,  Acts  8:  4,  "  went 
everywhere  preaching  the  word." 

Strangers  and  visiters  in  the  principal  cities,  where  the 
gospel  was  preached,  also  frequently  became  converts  to 
Christ,  and  returned  home  to  make  known  his  gospel,  as  they 
might  have  opportunity  and  ability  in  the  places  where  they 
resided. 

Whatever  the  means  may  have  been,  it  is  an  acknowledged 
historical  fact,  that  the  Christian  religion  continued  to  spread 
with  wonderful  rapidity  during  the  first  century ;  and  that  by 
the  close  of  this  period  it  had  pervaded,  not  only  the  principal 
cities,  but  the  country  also,  in  many  provinces  of  the  Roman 
empire.  Pliny,  A.  D.  103  or  104,  in  the  remote  province  of 
Bithynia,  complains  th^t  "  this  contagious  superstition  was 
not  confined  to  the  cities  only,  but  had  spread  its  infection 
through  the  country  villages.''^  These  new  Christian  con- 
verts in  the  surrounding  country,  while  yet  few  and  feeble, 
became  of  course  members  of  the  neighboring  church.  The 
parent-church  became  a  great  parish  spreading  out  over  an 
indefinite  extent  of  country,  and  having  several  subordinate 
branches  in  connection  with  it,  and  more  or  less  dependent 
upon  it,  over  which  it  exerted  a  sustaining  and  controlling 
influence. 

For  a  time,  Dr.  Campbell  supposes  that  these  converts  in 
the  villages  received  pastoral  instruction,  and  the  elements 
of  the  eucharist,  from  persons  sent  out  for  that  purpose  from 
the  city ;  but  that  all  continued  to  come  into  the  city  to  wor- 

»  Ep.  Lib.  10.  97. 


RISE  OP  EPISCOPACY.  249 

ship.  Such  also  is  the  representation  of  Justin  Martyr,  who 
says,  "  that  on  the  day  which  was  called  Sunday,  all  that  live 
in  the  city  and  in  the  country  come  together  in  the  same 
place, "2  for  religious  worship. 

When,  in  process  of  time,  it  became  expedient  for  Chris- 
tian converts  in  the  country  to  have  separate  places  of  wor- 
ship, these  new  organizations  took  the  form  of  the  parent 
church,  and  still  looked  to  that  for  instruction  and  support  as 
they  might  need.  The  new  churches  bore,  indeed,  a  strik- 
ing resemblance  to  the  "  chapels  of  ease  "  in  England  ;  hav- 
ing a  similar  dependence  upon  the  mother-church.  This 
dependence  gave  rise  to  a  gradual  connection  and  coalition, 
between  the  churches  in  the  country,  and  the  central  church 
in  the  city.  In  this  connection  and  coalition,  between  the 
original  church  and  the  smaller  ones  that  sprang  up  around 
it,  began  that  change  in  the  original  organization  of  the  apos- 
tolical churches  which  gave  rise  to  the  Episcopal  system; 
and,  which  in  the  end,  totally  subverted  the  primitive  sim- 
plicity and  freedom  in  which  the  churches  were  at  first  found- 
ed. This  dependence  and  consequent  coalition  was  the 
result  of  various  natural  causes  and  local  circumstances 
which  claim  a  more  specific  enumeration. 

1.  The  churches  in  the  country  were  only  branches  of 
the  parent  stock,  and  owned  a  filial  relation  to  the  mother 
church. 

2.  They  received  their  first  spiritual  teachers  and  pastors 
from  this  church ;  and  these  would  naturally  retain  their  at- 
tachment to  the  church  from  which  they  came,  and  use  their 
influence  to  unite  with  it  that  to  which  they  went. 

3.  The  connection  between  the  country  and  the  city,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  business,  had  its  influence  in  bringing 
the  churches  in  the  country  into  connection  with  that  in  the 
city. 

4.  The  persecution,  and  consequent  distress  which  came 

«  Apol.  c.  67.  p.  83. 


250  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

upon  the  churches,  brought  them  into  closer  connection  one 
with  another. 

5.  The  city  was  the  centre  of  political  influence  and  pow- 
er, for  the  government  and  protection  of  the  country.  This 
consideration  had  its  influence  in  promoting  a  similar  rela- 
tion between  the  churches  in  the  city,  and  those  in  the  coun- 
try.— The  people  had  long  been  subject  to  the  civil  authority 
which  was  concentrated  in  the  city ;  and  on  this  account  they 
yielded  the  more  readily  to  a  similar  control  from  the  same 
quarter  over  the  affairs  of  the  church. 

6.  The  church  itself  was  deservedly  the  object  of  respect. 
It  had  been  founded,  it  may  be,  by  one  of  the  apostles,  and 
still  enjoyed  the  ministry  of  a  successor  placed  at  a  short  re- 
move from  them,  to  whom  it  was  natural  to  look  for  counsel 
and  support. 

"  An  ancient  custom  obtained,  of  attributing  to  those  church- 
es which  had  been  founded  by  the  apostles  a  superior  degree 
of  honor,  and  a  more  exalted  dignity.  On  which  account  it 
was  for  the  most  part  usual,  when  any  dispute  arose  respect- 
ing principles  or  tenets,  for  the  opinion  of  these  churches  to 
be  asked ;  as,  also,  for  those  who  entered  into  discussion  of 
any  matters  connected  with  religion,  to  refer,  in  support  of 
their  positions,  to  the  voice  of  the  apostolic  churches.  We 
may,  therefore,  very  readily  perceive  the  reason  which,  in 
cases  of  doubt  and  controversy,  caused  the  Christians  of  the 
West  to  have  recourse  to  the  church  of  Rome  ;  those  of  Af- 
rica, to  that  of  Alexandria  ;  and  those  of  Asia,  to  that  of  An- 
tioch  for  their  opinion ;  and  which,  also,  occasioned  these 
opinions  to  be,  not  unfrequently  regarded  in  the  light  of  laws, 
namely,  that  these  churches  had  been  planted,  reared  up  and 
regulated,  either  by  the  hand  or  under  the  immediate  care  of 
some  one,  or  more  of  the  apostles  themselves.''^ 

7.  The  city-church  was  comparatively  rich  and  powerful ; 
and  could  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  feeble  churches  as 

3  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  II.  §  21. 


RISE  OP  EPISCOPACY.  251 

they  might  need.  For  this  reason,  especially  in  times  of  dis- 
tress and  persecution,  they  clung  as  closely  as  possible  to  the 
parent-church. 

8.  Protection  and  aid  from  the  civil  authority  was  chiefly 
to  be  sought  through  the  same  medium.  The  minister  of 
the  city  could  apply  in  their  behalf  to  the  Roman  governors 
who  resided  there.  Or  if  a  direct  application  was  inexpe- 
dient, there  were  still  many  ways  and  means,  by  which  to 
operate  secretly  upon  the  magistrates,  and  their  subordinate 
officers,  for  the  advantage  of  the  churches  in  the  country. 
Christian  converts  were  not  unfrequently  entrusted  with  some 
civil  office,  in  which  they  could  aid  their  brethren  in  the 
country. 

Thus,  in  various  ways,  the  churches  in  the  large  cities,  in 
process  of  time,  gathered  about  them  several  smaller  churches 
in  the  vicinity,  over  which  they  extended  their  guardianship 
and  care.  The  clergy  of  the  central  churches  had  a  con- 
trolling influence  over  those  in  the  neighborhood,  which  was 
conceded  to  them  by  common  consent ;  and  which  in  reality 
was  not  at  first  oppressive,  but  beneficial  to  the  subordinate 
churches.  It  was,  however,  a  silent  surrender  of  their  origi- 
nal and  inherent  right  as  independent  bodies  ;  and  led  on 
to  an  entire  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  primi- 
tive church,  as  established  by  the  apostles. 

The  above  representations  disclose  the  true  origin  of  that 
ecclesiastical  aristocracy  which  succeeded  to  the  popular 
government  of  the  apostolical  churches.  They  exhibit  the 
rise  of  the  diocesan  form  of  government,  not  as  based  on 
any  *  theory  of  the  church,'  but  as  the  result  of  the  mutual  re- 
lations of  the  churches  in  the  country  to  that  in  the  city. 
The  church  of  the  metropolis  gradually*spread  ilself  out  as 
an  extensive  parish  over  the  adjacent  territory.  And  the 
bishop  of  this  city  became,  virtually,  the  bishop  over  the  same 
extent  of  country.  **  Was  it  not  natural,"  says  Planck,  after 
alluding  to  many  of  the  circumstances  above-mentioned,  "  was 


252  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

it  not  natural,  and  according  to  the  ordinary  course  of  tilings 
to  make  a  distinction  between  the  bishop  of  the  city,  and  the 
other  clergy?  Would  not  they  themselves,  cheerfully  make 
the  distinction,  and  give  him  special  tokens  of  their  conside- 
ration? Would  they  not  accost  him  with  peculiar  respect; 
and  by  silent  consent,  give  him  the  pre-eminence?  And 
would  he  not,  on  the  other  hand,  requite  all  this  by  his  man- 
ifold services  ?  Hence  arose  those  new  relations  which  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  metropolitan  system."^ 

Throughout  the  second  and  third  centuries,  there  was  no 
established  law  or  rule,  binding  the  smaller  churches  in  a  co- 
alition with  the  greater,  or  bringing  them  into  subjection  to 
it.  It  was  wholly  a  conventional  arrangement,  a  matter  of 
expediency  and  convenience,  resulting  from  various  circum- 
stances that  have  already  been  detailed.  But  that  which  at 
first  was  conceded  voluntarily,  was  afterwards  claimed  as  a 
right.  Conventional  usage  became  established  law;  the  con- 
trolling influence  of  the  bishop,  an  official  prerogative ;  and 
thus,  in  the  end,  the  diocesan  form  of  government  was  settled 
upon  the  church. 

Siegel  and  Ziegler  have  given  two  examples  from  Fuchs, 
in  illustration  of  these  relations  between  the  parent  church 
and  those  of  the  country  adjacent.  It  appears  that  a  question 
had  arisen  between  the  bishop  of  Nice  and  the  bishop  of 
Nicomedia  respecting  the  jurisdiction  of  Basilinopolis,  a  small 
city  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nice.  This  city  was  originally 
a  small  village,  but  had  so  increased  as  to  be  invested  by 
Justinian  with  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  city,  and  as  such 
belonged  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  metropolitan  of  Nicome- 
dia. But,  as  a  village  adjacent  to  Nice,  according  to  the 
views  above  stated,  it  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop 
of  Nice,  who  had  himself  ordained  the  presbyter  of  Basilinop- 
olis as  a  bishop  in  accordance  with  the  old  order  of  things,and 

4  Gesellschafts-Verfass.,  I.  S.  82,  83.     Comp.  also,  546—562,  re- 
specting this  system  at  a  later  period. 


RISE  OF  EPISCOPACY.  253 

in  direct  violation  of  the  metropolitan  rights  of  the  bishop  of 
Nicomedia,  who  claimed  the  exclusive  right  to  ordain  bishops 
in  his  own  province.  The  only  defence  which  the  bishop  of 
Nice  could  offer,  was  to  claim  jurisdiction  over  it  on  the 
ground  of  its  relation  to  Nice ;  it  having  formerly  belonged 
to  the  precincts  of  that  city  as  a  neighboring  and  dependent 
church.  The  instance  goes  to  show  that  such  relations  had 
existed,  and  were  still  regarded  as  valid,  even  under  the  me- 
tropolitan system  then  in  force. 

The  second  example  is  derived  from  the  region  of  the  Mare- 
Otis,  near  Alexandria.  In  this  whole  extent  of  country  so 
late  as  the  fourth  century,  there  was  no  bishop,  or  rural  bishop, 
chorepiscopus ;  but  only  presbyters,  who  were  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  bishop  of  Alexandria;  and  so  jealous  was  he  of 
his  prerogative,  that  he  had  refused,  for  this  length  of  time, 
any  other  ministry  to  the  churches  of  the  Mareotis  than  that 
of  presbyters. 

The  same  state  of  things  is  apparent  from  the  relations  of  the- 
presbyters  in  the  city  to  the  bishop,  in  contrast  with  those  of 
presbyters  in  the  country.  When  in  process  of  time,  several 
distinct  churches  were  found  in  a  given  city,  the  presbyters 
of  these  churches  refused  themselves  to  acknowledge  a  subor- 
dination to  the  bishop  similar  to  that  of  the  presbyters  in  the 
country.  They  claimed  an  equality  with  him.  They  had 
elected  him  from  their  own  number ;  and  they  continued  to 
regard  him  only  as  pri?nus  inter  pares ;  and,  as  ministers  ia 
the  metropolis,  claimed  precedence  over  those  in  the  country. 
Thus  in  the  letter  of  the  Ariansto  Alexander,  the  bishop  and 
all  the  clergy  of  Alexandria  first  affix  their  signature.  Then 
follows  that  of  three  bishops  from  other  parts  of  Egypt ;  all 
which  serves  to  illustrate  the  subordination  of  the  clergy  in 
the  country  to  those  in  the  city. 

This  view  of  the  subject  is  not  new;  nor  is  it  put  forth  a» 
original  with  the  writer.  It  has  the  sanction  of  many  authors 
22 


254  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

from  whom  the  above  particulars  have  been  derived.  Of 
these,  it  is  sufficient  to  mention,  Spittler,^  Pertsch,^  Mos- 
heim,7  Planck,8  Neander,9  Guerike,io  Siegel,ii  Schoene,!^ 
W.  Bohmer,i3  D'Aubigne.i^ 

II.  Of  the  early  ascendency  of  the  bishops  in  the  cities 
over  those  in  the  country. 

In  close  connection  with  the  foregoing  changes  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  churches  and  in  their  relations  to  each  other, 
there  were  others  which  were  equally  influential  in  disturbing 
the  mutual  relations  which  had  hitherto  subsisted,  both  among 
the  clergy  and  between  the  bishop  of  the  city  and  the  clergy 
in  the  country. 

1.  Of  these  changes,  the  most  important  is  the  division  of 
the  clergy  into  the  separate  orders  of  bishops  and  presbyters. 
The  ordinary  priesthood,  as  established  under  the  apostles, 
constituted,  as  we  have  seen,  but  one  class  or  order ;  and 
were  denominated,  indiscriminately  and  interchangeably, 
bishops  and  presbyters.  The  great  historian,  to  whom  the 
reader  is  indebted  for  the  Introduction  which  stands  at  the 
head  of  this  volume,  ascribes  the  origin  of  this  distinction  to 
the  second  century ,^  and  its  full  development  to  a  period  con- 
siderably later.15  Waiving,  in  this  place,  the  further  discussion 
of  this  vexed  question,  we  will  here  state  the  origin  of  this  dis- 
tinction, according  to  Siege!  and  others,  as  a  fair  expression 

5  Can.  Rechts.  §  4—10. 

«  lb.  §  17—23,  und  KFrchen  Hist.,  Sec.  II. 

7  De  Rebus  Christ.  Saec,  II.  §  37,  note  3. 

8  Gesell.  Verfass.  S.  18—83,  546—572. 

8  Allgem.  Kirchen  Gesch.  1.  2d  ed.  S.  314—316. 

10  lb.  S.  95—97. 

"  Kirchliche  Verfass.  2.  S.  454—473;  4.  S.  378. 

12  Geschichtsforschungen,  Vol.  3.  S.  336—340.  See  also,  Cone. 
Carthag.  c.  31.  Bracar.  c.  1 .  Agath.  c.  53.  Tarracon.  c.  8. 

13  Alterthumswissenschaft.  1.  S.  230—236. 

14  Hist,  of  Reformation.  Vol.  1.  p.  18.  N.  Y.  1843. 

15  Comp.  his  Apost.  Gesch.  1,  50,  198  seq,  406.  Allgem.  Kirch. 
1,  327,  328,  2d  ed. 


RISE  OF  EPISCOPACY.  255 

of  the  prevailing  views  of  those  who  deny  the  original  supe- 
riority of  the  bishop  and  the  apostolical  origin  of  Episcopacy. 

There  was  at  first  but  one  church  in  a  city,  to  which  all 
the  Christian  converts  belonged.  But  the  care  of  the  church 
was  entrusted,  not  to  one  man,  but  to  several,  who  constitu- 
ted a  college  of  presbyters,  and  divided  the  duties  of  their  of- 
fice among  themselves.  This  arrangement  was  analogous  to 
that  of  the  Jewish  synagogue,  after  which  the  church  was  or- 
ganized. A  plurality  of  persons  everywhere  appear  in  the 
Acts  as  the  representatives  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem. 
They  represent,  also,  the  church  at  Ephesus,  Acts  20 :  17 
— 28  ;  and  at  Philippi,  Phil.  1 :  1.  Titus  was  also  instructed 
to  ordain  elders  in  all  the  cities  in  Crete.  In  such  a  college 
of  elders  sharing  a  joint  responsiblity  in  the  care  of  the  church- 
es, it  would  obviously  be  convenient  if  not  indispensable,  for 
one  of  their  number  to  act  as  the  moderator  or  president  of 
their  assemblies.  Such  a  designation,  however,  would  con- 
fer on  the  presiding  elder  no  ojicial  superiority  over  his  fel- 
low-presbyters ;  but,  coupled  with  age,  and  talents,  and  spirit- 
ual gifts,  it  might  give  him  a  control  in  their  councils,  and  in 
the  government  of  the  church.  This  control,  and  this  oflScial 
rank,  as  the  nQoaatcog,  the  presiding  elder,  which  was  first 
conceded  to  him  by  his  fellow-presbyters  only  as  to  a  fellow- 
presbyter,  a  primus  inter  pares,  he  began  in  time  to  claim  as 
his  official  prerogative.  He  first  began  by  moral  means  and 
the  influence  of  accidental  circumstances  to  be  the  bishop  of 
the  church,  and  afterwards  claimed  the  office  as  his  right. 
This  assumption  of  authority  gave  rise  to  the  gradual  distinc- 
tion between  bishop  and  presbyter.  It  began  early  to  disturb 
the  relations  of  equality  which  at  first  subsisted  between  the 
ministers  of  the  churches ;  and,  in  the  course  of  the  second 
and  third  centuries,  resulted  in  the  division  of  the  clergy  into 
two  distinct  orders, — bishops  and  presbyters. 

This  simple  exposition  of  the  origin  of  the  Episcopal  office 
has  the  sanction  of  the  most  approved  authority,  particularly 


256  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

of  the  distinguished  historian  whose  works  we  have  so  often 
cited,i6  to  whom  we  may  add  Gieseler,!^  Guerike,!^  Gabler,i9 
Mosheim,20  Pertsch,2i  and  many  others. 

2.  The  duties  and  responsibilties  of  the  bishop  in  times 
of  persecution,  had  their  influence  in  exalting  this  officer,  and 
separating  him  further,  both  from  the  presbyters  and  the  peo- 
ple. Under  such  circumstances,  the  bishop  of  the  metropo- 
lis became  the  counsellor  and  guardian  of  the  churches.  In  his 
wisdom,  his  talents,  and  his  influence  were  their  confidence 
and  trust.  To  him  the  needy  and  distressed  also  looked  for 
consolation  and  relief. 

3.  The  rage  and  vengeance  of  their  persecutors  fell  oftenest 
upon  him ;  and,  while  it  excited  for  him  the  sympathy  and 
veneration  of  the  churches,  prepared  them  more  readily  to 
acquiesce  in  his  authority.22 

4.  As  the  church  increased  in  number,  the  intercourse 
between  each  member  individually  and  the  bishop  became 
less,  and  a  corresponding  separation  between  him  and  his 
people  of  necessity  ensued. 

»8  Apost.  Kirch,  1.  39  seq.  3d  ed.  50.  198  seq.  406.  Allgem.  Gesch. 
1.  324  seq.  2d  ed.  "  In  the  Acts,  a  plurality  of  presbyters  always  ap- 
pears next  in  rank  to  the  apostles,  as  representatives  of  the  church  at 
Jerusalem.  If  any  one  is  disposed  to  maintain  that  each  one  of  these 
presbyters  presided  over  a  smaller  part  of  its  special  meetings,  still  it 
must  be  thereby  established,  that,  notwithstanding  these  divided 
meetings,  the  church  formed  a  whole,  over  which  this  deliberative 
college  of  presbyters  presided,  and  therefore  the  form  of  government 
was  still  of  a  popular  character," — Keander  ^post.  Kirch.  1.  c.  2.  3d 
ed.  "  This  plurality  of  ministers  over  the  same  church  continued, 
even  to  the  fourth  century,  to  be  the  order  of  the  churches." — Planck^ 
Gesell.  Vcrfass.  1,  551. 

^7  Lehrbuch  der  Kirchengesch.  3.  Aufl.  1.  118. 

i»  Kirch.  Geschichte,  1.  S.  89—93,  2d  ed. 

'^  De  Epis.  primae  eccl.  eorumque  origine. 

20  Hist.  Eccl.  3.  p.  103  seq.  and  Kirchenrecht,  by  Ernst,  S.  52. 

21  Can.  Recht.  S.  42.  Kirch.  Hist.,  Saec.  H.  c.  5.  §  8—15.  Com- 
pare, especially,  Ziegler's  Versuch  der  Gesch.  der  Kirch.  Verfass.  S. 
34—61. 

82  Spittler's  Can.  Recht.  c.  1.  §  5. 


RISE  OP  EPISCOPACY.  257 

5.  Many  of  the  bishops  were  the  successors  of  the  apos- 
tles, or  were  bishops  of  apostolical  churches,  and  this  cir- 
cumstance gave  them  additional  influence.23  The  bishops 
of  Rome,24  of  Carthage,  of  Jerusalem,25  and  others,  derived 
importance  from  this  consideration.  The  decisions  and  re- 
gulations of  those  churches,  which  had  been  planted  by  the 
hand,  or  reared  up  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the 
apostles,  had,  with  other  churches,  not  unfrequently  a  ca- 
nonical authority  equivalent  to  that  of  statute  laws.26 

6.  The  distinction  between  the  clergy  and  laity,  which  be- 
gan about  this  time,  is  worthy  of  particular  notice.  In  the 
apostolical  churches  the  office  of  teaching  was  not  restricted 
to  any  particular  class  of  persons.  All  Christians  accounted 
themselves  the  priests  of  God ;  and  between  the  church  and 
their  spiritual  leaders  very  little  distinction  was  known.  This 
fact  is  so  universally  acknowledged,  that  it  were  needless  to 
multiply  authorities  in  proof  of  it.  But  it  forcibly  indicates 
the  nature  of  the  original  constitution  of  the  church.27    The 

23  Comp.  Tertull.,  De  Praescript.  Advers.  Haeret.  c.  20,  26,  36. 
Peter  de  Marca,  de  Concord.  Sacerd.  et  Im.  Lib.  5.  c.  20.  Lib.  7.  c. 
4.  §  6  seq. 

24  Irenaeus  Advers.  Haer.  Lib.  3.  c.  2;  4.  c.  26;  5.  c.  20,  44. 

25  Firmil.  ap.  Cyp.  Epist.  75. 

26  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  II.  §  2L  In  this  section  and 
the  accompanying  note  is  given  a  full  and  interesting  illustration  of 
the  canonical  authorities  of  such  churches.  Comp.  also,  Gieseler, 
Lehrbuch,  S.  160—163.  Note. 

27  Nonne  et  laici  sacerdotes  suraus .?  DifFerentiam  inter  ordinem 
etplebem  constituit  ecclesiae  auctoritas  ;  adeo  ubi  ecclesiastici  ordinis 
non  est  consessus  et  offers,  et  tingis  et  sacerdos  tibi  es  solus. — De  Ex- 
hortat.  Castit.  c.  7.  p.  522.  Primum  omnes  docebant  et  omnes  bapti- 
zabant ;  ut  cresceret  plebs  et  multiplicaretur  omnibus  inter  initia  con- 
cessus  est  et  evangelizare  et  baptizare  et  scripturas  explorare. — Hila- 
ry, cited  by  JYeander,  MIgcm.  Gesch.  1.  S.  311.  Comp.  S.  324  seq., 
especially  335 — 337, 2d  ed.  Comp.  Cyprian,  Ep.  76.  Suicer,  Thesau- 
rus, art.  ali^Qog,  Guerike,  Kirch.  Gesch.  Vol  1.  93,  94,  and  J.  H.  Boh- 
mer,  De  Differentia  inter  Ordinem  Ecclesiast.,  etc. 

22* 


258  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

distinction,  accordingly,  of  pastors  and  people  into  two  dis- 
tinct orders,  the  clergy  and  the  laity,  distinctly  marks  the 
workings  of  that  spirit  which  was  fast  obliterating  the  fea- 
tures of  its  early  organization.  Tertullian,  t218,  is  the  first 
to  mention  this  distinction-^^  The  people  have  now  become 
an  inferior  order,  the  distinction  between  them  and  the  high- 
er order  of  the  clergy  widens  fast,  and  the  government  of  the 
church  which  has  hitherto  been  vested  in  the  people,  passes 
rapidly  into  the  hands  of  the  bishop. 

7.  The  clergy  begin  to  claim  authority  from  the  analogy 
between  their  office  and  that  of  the  Jewish  priesthood.  The 
officers  of  the  church  were  originally  organized  according  to 
the  order  of  the  Jewish  synagogue.  The  name  and  office  of 
rulers  of  the  synagogue  were  transferred  to  the  church.  But 
the  bishops  now  begin  entirely  to  change  their  ground,  and 
to  claim  analogy  to  the  Jewish  priesthood  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. They  are  no  longer  incumbents  in  office  at  the  plea- 
sure of  the  people,  and  dependent  upon  them ;  but  divinely 
constituted  the  priests  of  God  ;  and  divinely  appointed  by  him 
to  instruct  and  to  rule  over  the  church.  "  When  once  the 
idea  of  a  Mosaic  priesthood  had  been  adopted  in  the  Chris- 
tian church,  the  clergy  soon  began  to  assume  a  superiority  over 
the  laity.  The  customary  form  of  consecration  was  now 
supposed  to  have  a  certain  mystic  influence,  and  henceforth 
they  stand  in  the  position  of  persons  appointed  by  God  to  be 
the  medium  of  communication  between  him  and  the  Chris- 
tian worId."29 

8.  From  this  it  was  but  a  slight  modification  to  assert  the 
divine  right  of  Episcopacy,  and  the  apostolical  succession  in 
the  line  of  the  bishops.  Sentiments  to  this  effect  are  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  in  the  writings  of  Cyprian,  t  ^S.      The 

28  De  Monogamia,  c.  12.  p.  533. 

^  Gieseler,  Cunningham's  Trans.  I.  p.  156.  Comp.  MUnscher, 
Handbuch  der  Christ.  Dog.  3.  p.  15.  Conder's  Protestant  Noncon- 
formity, Vol.  I.  p.  224.  Comp.  Flanck,  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  163. 
Mosheimde  Rebus.  Saec,  II.  §  24. 


RISE  OP  EPISCOPACY.  259 

bishops  also  assumed  new  titles,  such  as  sacerdoies^  priests f 
high-priests,  rulers  of  the  church,  etc.^i 

Finally,  these  arrogant  asssumptions  ended  in  the  claim  of 
guidance  and  wisdom  from  on  high,  by  the  communications 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  was  also  the  false  and  flattering 
dream  of  Cyprian,32  and  has  been  the  favorite  dogma  of  pre- 
lacy, from  his  time  to  the  present  day.  These  claims  of  the 
bishop  to  a  divine  commission  and  to  illumination  from  above 
were  more  confidently  put  forth  at  a  later  period,  after  the 
hierarchy  had  become  more  fully  established. 

The  following  comprehensive  summary  offers  a  fit  conclu- 
sion to  the  preceding  remarks.  "  In  process  of  time,"  says 
Mosheim,  "  the  bishops  found  means  to  abridge  the  rights  of 
the  presbyters,  the  deacons,  and  the  people.  Such  is  the 
course  of  the  world.  They  who  are  honored  with  the  respect, 
and  entrusted  with  the  affairs  of  society,  agreeably  to  the  nat- 
ural love  which  every  man  has  for  pre-eminence,  seek  for 
greater  distinction,  and  the  people  favor  the  desire.  Strife 
and  contention  are  the  necessary  consequence  of  dividing 
offices  of  trust  among  many;  and  these  struggles  usually  end 
in  the  advancement  of  him  who  is  highest  in  office.  Even 
Cyprian,  who  acknowledged  the  authority  of  the  church  over 
the  bishop,  and  his  duty  in  all  things  to  act  in  concert  with 
the  clergy,  had  still  the  address  so  to  exalt  the  power  of  the 
bishop  as  to  overthrow  the  rights  both  of  the  clergy  and  the 
people.  He  affirmed  that  God  made  the  bishops  ;  that  they 
were  the  vicegerents  of  Christ,  and  responsible  to  none  but 
to  God.     He  was  the  father  of  this  dogma ;  and  the  bishops 

30  Comp.  Cyp.  Ep.  3.  4,  59,  Spittler's  Can.  Recht.  c.  1.  §  11. 
Henke,  AUgem.  Gesch.  der  Christ.  Kirch.  1.  p.  120.  Mosbeirn,  De 
Rebus,  Saec.  HI.  §  24. 

ai  Origen,  Horn.  2.  in  Jer.  Adv.  Cels.  Lib.  3.  In  Math.  Tract. 
31,  32. 

^^  Placuit  nobis  sancto  spiritu  suggerente  et  Domino  per  visiones 
multas  et  manifestas  adraonente. —  Cyprian^  Epist.  54.  p.  79.  Cone. 
Car.  A.  D.  252. 


260  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

continued  to  claim  this  prerogative  until  the  ninth  century, 
when  the  pope  appropriated  it  exclusively  to  himself.  The 
rights  of  the  people  and  of  the  clergy  were,  in  process  of  time 
wrested  from  them ;  they  retaining  only  a  negative  vote.  The 
bishops  proceeded,  themselves,  to  appoint  the  presbyters  and 
deacons.  The  people  were,  at  first,  consulted  by  the  bish- 
ops, but  it  was  only  an  unmeaning  form.  The  bishop  car- 
ried the  appoinment  of  his  favorite  candidate ;  and  the  refer- 
ence to  the  people  was  a  mere  act  of  courtesy.  They  were 
the  agents  of  God.  Opposition  to  their  will  was  disobedience 
to  him.  The  deacons  became  the  creatures  of  the  bishop, 
dependent  upon  him  alone,  and  having  little  concern  with  the 
people.  In  a  word,  the  deacons,  even  in  the  second  century 
were,  in  many  places,  no  more  what  they  were  at  first.  In 
ecclesiastical  matters,  the  people  were  still  consulted  in  some 
form,  either  by  the  bishop  in  person  or  by  deputies ;  but  they 
had  no  votes  either  individually  or  collectively.  When  any 
measure  of  importance  was  to  be  carried,  the  bishops  first  se- 
cured the  interest  of  the  presbyters  in  their  favor ;  and  when 
by  various  means,  they  had  accomplished  this,  it  only  re- 
mained for  the  people  to  yield  a  respectful  acquiescence. 
Some  occasionally  dissented,  but  the  measure  was  generally 
carried,  agreeably  to  the  will  of  the  bishop. "^3 

The  bishops  rose  in  rank  and  power,  as  we  have  seen,  not 
by  any  sudden  and  violent  assumption  of  diocesan  authority, 
but  by  the  silent  concession  and  approbation,  at  first,  of  the 
people.  Their  authority  and  influence  was,  at  the  outset,  only 
that  which  is  conceded  to  talent  and  piety  in  official  stations, 
employed  and  exerted  for  the  general  good.  "  So  that  the 
growth  of  Episcopal  power  is  not  altogether  attributable  to 
ambitious  designs  on  the  part  of  those  by  whom  it  was  first  ex- 
ercised. So  far  from  this,  the  effect,  as  Dr.  Campbell  has  re- 
marked, *  is  much  more  justly  ascribed  to  their  virtues.'  How 

33  Kirchenrecht,  by  Ernst.  S.  61—63. 


RISE  OF  EPISCOPACV.  261 

paradoxical  soever  this  may  sound,  it  is  difficult  to  account 
in  any  other  way  for  the  unopposed  ascendency  which  was 
so  soon  obtained  by  men,  whose  ambition,  had  it  betrayed  it- 
self when  as  yet  unarmed  by  wealth  or  power,  required  but 
to  be  withstood,  in  order  to  be  rendered  harmless.  That 
deference  was,  however,  lavishly  conceded  to  personal  cha- 
racter, from  a  principle  of  veneration  and  unbounded  confi- 
dence, which  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible  openly 
to  wrest  from  people  roused  to  a  jealous  sense  of  their  rights."34 
Their  influence  was  analogous  to  that  of  a  modern  missiona- 
ry over  the  churches  which  he  has  gathered  about  him  in  dif- 
ferent stations ;  or  it  resembled  that  which  the  apostles  and 
first  preachers  exercised  over  the  churches  which  were  planted 
by  them.  It  is  only  to  be  regretted,  that  these  bishops,  in  claim- 
ing to  be  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  in  office  and  in  power, 
had  not  also  enough  of  the  spirit  of  their  reputed  ancestors, 
to  employ  the  high  trust  which  was  committed  unto  them 
solely  for  the  interest  of  the  churches  under  their  care ;  and 
then  to  resign  it  again  for  the  same  great  end,  instead  of  per- 
verting the  sacred  privileges  of  their  office  into  the  means  of 
gratifying  their  unholy  ambition  in  the  extension  of  the  Epis- 
copal prerogatives. 

We  have  here  an  easy  explanation  of  the  difficulty  which 
the  advocates  of  prelacy  affect  to  press  with  great  force,  in 
calling  upon  us  to  explain  the  origin  of  Episcopacy,  on  the 
supposition  that  it  is  not  of  divine  appointment.  Here,  we 
are  told,  is  an  alleged  usurpation,  ''without  discussion,  with- 
out excitement,  without  opposition,  without  known  authors  or 
abettors ;  a  radical  and  permanent  overthrow  of  an  existing 
system  of  church  government  throughout  the  whole  Roman 
empire,  before  the  apostles  were  cold  in  their  graves." 
Now,  a  hundred  years  is  surely  time  enough  to  allow  for  one 

^'^  Conder's  Nonconformity,  1.  p.  227.  Campbell's  Lectures,  pp. 
94,  95.  Mason's  Works,  Vol.  III.  p.  217  seq.  Dr.  Barrow's  Trea- 
tise on  Popish  Supremacy. 


263  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

to  grow  cold  in  his  grave.  But,  all  oratory  apart,  it  is  con- 
ceded that  here  is  a  change,  an  early  change,  and  one  made 
without  controversy  or  opposition.  And  we  are  earnestly 
pressed  for  an  explanation.  We  accept  the  challenge ;  and 
appeal  to  the  considerations  already  suggested  as  an  adequate 
explanation.  Is  it  strange,  under  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  that  the  care  of  the  churches  should  devolve  upon  a 
few  ?  Is  it  a  thing  incredible,  that  men  should  love  the  exer- 
cise of  power,  and  find  means  to  secure  it?  Does  history 
give  no  trace  of  any  transition  from  a  free  and  popular  govern- 
ment to  one  more  despotic  ?  What  was  the  end  of  the  an- 
cient republics  of  Greece?  What  succeeded  to  the  popular 
government  of  consular  Rome?  How  did  the  popular 
movement  in  the  French  Revolution  terminate  ?  All  history, 
ecclesiastical  and  secular,  shows  how  easily  the  sovereign 
power  of  the  many  may  pass  into  the  hands  of  a  few.  But 
in  the  instance  before  us,  the  churches,  in  confiding  simplici- 
ty and  sincerity,  conceded  to  their  spiritual  rulers  the  rights 
in  question  by  tacit  consent.  And  after  long-continued  usage, 
the  sanctions  of  synodical  decrees,  aided  by  the  claim  of  apos- 
tolical succession,  of  divine  right,  and  of  the  teachings  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  seem  quite  sufficient  to  guarantee  to  bishops 
the  quiet  possession  of  their  Episcopal  prerogatives. 

*'  Power,"  says  Dr.  Hawkes,  himself  an  eminent  Episcopa- 
lian, "  always  passes  slowly  and  silently,  and  without  much 
notice,  from  the  hands  of  the  many  to  the  few;  and  all 
history  shows  that  ecclesiastical  domination  grows  up  by 
little  and  little.  The  overwhelming  tyranny  from  which 
the  Reformation  freed  the  Protestant  church,  grew  up  by  this 
paulatim  process."33 

Besides,  Episcopacy  arose  in  an  age  of  comparative  igno- 
rance, when  there  were  few  historical  records.  In  such  a 
state  of  things  an  innovation  might  have  been  easily  intro- 
duced which  supported  clerical  influence  and  authority,  and 

3^  Cited  in  Smyth's  Eccl.  Republicanism,  p.  166. 


RISE  OF  EPISCOPACY.  263 

in  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  it  might  be  generally  acknowledged 
as  having  been  of  immemorial  existence  in  the  church.  The 
Episcopal  church  itself  presents  a  pertinent  case  in  illustra- 
tion of  this  position.  Very  few  of  that  communion  know  or 
believe  that  the  prescribed  mode  of  baptism  in  the  church  of 
England  \simmersion.  This,  however,  is  precisely  and  accu- 
rately the  fact.  The  words  of  the  formulary  for  the  public 
baptism  of  infants  in  their  book  of  common  prayer  are  as 
follows  :  "  then,  naming  it  after  them  (if  they  shall  certify 
that  the  child  may  well  endure  it)  he  (the  priest)  shall  dip  it 
in  the  water  discreetly  and  warily,  saying,  etc.  But  if  they 
certify  that  the  child  is  weak,  it  shall  suffice  to  pour  water 
upon  it."  In  this,  under  circumstances  the  most  improbable, 
an  innovation  has  been  made  of  which  the  mass  of  the  people 
are  totally  ignorant.  The  mode  of  baptism  has  been  entire- 
ly changed  without  their  knowledge  or  belief,  while  every 
churchman  holds  in  his  hand  the  prayer-book  which  describes 
the  exact  manner  in  which  the  ordinance  shall  be  adminis- 
tered. Shall  we  wonder  then  at  the  gradual  change  in  the 
government  of  the  church  in  that  early  age,  when  every  thing 
favored  its  introduction,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  written 
constitution,  or  remaining  records  of  the  primitive  church? 

"  Different  from  their  modern  followers  must  have  been 
those  ancient  Presbyterians,  not  to  have  struck  a  single  blow  !" 
True,  indeed,  but  not  at  all  different  from  their  modern  Amer- 
ican successors,  were  those  primitive  Episcopalians,  in  yield- 
ing tamely  to  the  continual  encroachments  of  Episcopal  pow- 
er. Nay,  we  contend  that  the  progress  of  Episcopacy  in  this 
country  is  itself  a  phenomenon  more  extraordinary,  more  un- 
accountable, than  the  rise  and  progress  of  Episcopacy  in  the 
ancient  church. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  introduction  of  Episcopacy  into 
this  country  gave  rise  to  a  long  and  bitter  controversy.  The 
objection,  made  from  within  the  Episcopal  churches  as  well 
as  from  without,  was,  that  its  form  of  government  is  anti-re- 


264  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

publican,  and  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  our  free  institutions. 
The  House  of  Burgesses,  in  Virginia,  composed  chiefly  of 
Episcopalians,  declared  their  abhorrence  of  bishops,  unless 
at  the  distance  of  three  thousand  miles,  and  denounced  "the 
plan  of  introducing  them,  in  the  most  unexceptionable  form, 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  as  a  pernicious  project." 

When,  at  last.  Episcopacy  was  introduced,  it  was  only  by 
a  compromise, — the  Episcopalian  churches  consenting  to  sul> 
mit  to  diocesan  Episcopacy,  only  in  a  form  greatly  modified, 
and  divested  of  its  most  obnoxious  features.  To  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  laity  from  a  free  and  full  participation  in  the  affairs 
of  the  government  they  would  not  for  a  moment  submit. 
Such,  according  to  Bishop  White,  was  the  prejudice  of  Epis- 
copalians, "against  the  name,  and  much  more  against  the 
office  of  a  bishop,  that,  but  for  the  introduction  of  the  laity 
into  the  government  of  the  church,  no  general  organization 
would  probably  have  been  formed."  Accordingly,  the  people 
were  allowed  freely  to  choose  their  own  pastors,  and  to  have 
a  full  representation  in  all  their  courts.  This  American  Epis- 
copacy was  so  modified,  and  the  prelatical  powers  of  the  bish- 
op so  restricted  by  the  checks  and  balances  of  republican  prin- 
ciples, that  the  English  prelates,  on  the  other  hand,  were  reluc- 
tant to  confer  the  Episcopate  upon  Bishop  White,  alleging 
that  he  "  entertained  a  design  to  set  up  Episcopacy  on  the 
ground  of  presbyterial  and  lay  authority ^ 

Such  was  American  Eiscopacy,  at  first, — qualified  as 
much  as  possible,  by  the  infusion  of  popular  principles,  to 
restrain  the  arbitrary  powers  of  the  bishop.  But  what  now 
has  this  same  Episcopacy  become  ?  What  now  the  powers  of 
the  bishop,  compared  with  what  they  then  were  ?  He  pos- 
sesses power  almost  as  arbitrary  as  that  of  an  Eastern  despot ; 
and  assumes  to  rule  by  an  authority  independent  of  the  will 
of  his  subjects.  The  bishops  are  permanent  and  irresponsi- 
ble monarchs,  restrained  by  no  judicial  tribunal.  The  house 
of  bishops   admit  no  order  of  the  inferior  clergy  to  their 


RISE  OF  EPISCOPACY.  "SGS 

general  convention.  They  ordain,  depose,  and  restore  to 
the  ministry,  at  pleasure,  whom  they  will ;  "  so  that  a  Pusey- 
ite  bishop  may  fill  the  church  with  impenitent  and  unconver- 
ted men."  He  can  prevent  any  congregation  from  settling; 
the  minister  of  their  choice,  or  displace  one  at  his  will,  and! 
may,  "  upon  probable  cause"  forbid  any  clergyman  from  an- 
other diocese  to  officiate  in  his  own.  Such  is  the  fearful  na- 
ture of  those  powers  which  are  now  entrusted  to  this  spiritual' 
despot  in  our  free  republic.36 

And  yet  as  if  all  this  ominous  accumulation  of  Episcopal 
prerogatives  were  not  enough,  the  claims  of  the  bishops  are  still 
pressed  higher  and  higher.  The  house  of  bishops,  with  all  its 
powers,  has  been  superinduced  upon  the  general  convention^ 
since  its  establishment  in  America.  Now  these  privileged 
hierarchs  can  only  be  tried  by  themselves;  i.  c,  if  a  president 
be  guilty  of  any  crime  or  misdemeanor  whatever,  he  must  be 
impeached  and  tried  by  a  jury  of  presidents  alone;  a  govern- 
or, by  a  jury  of  governors.  In  one  convention,  the  bishop 
lately  claimed  and  exercised  the  prerogative  of  adjusting 
the  roll  of  the  members,  denying  to  them  the  right  of  all  delib- 
erative assemblies, — that  of  deciding  upon  the  qualifications  of 
their  own  members ;  and  the  same  convention,  "  by  a  vote  of 
nearly  three  to  one,"  meekly  acquiesced  in  this  claim  of  their 
prelate.3'''  Another  convention  provides  that  its  proceedings 
*'  shall  not  be  open  to  the  public."  It  gives  to  the  bishop  an 
absolute  veto  upon  all  their  acts ;  and,  to  crown  the  whole, 
makes  him  "  the  judge  in  all  ecclesiastical  trials."  Well  may 
we  say  with  Dr.  Hawkes,  "  Nothing  but  this  was  wanting 
TO  MAKE  HIM  ABSOLUTE.  Wc  will  spcak,  and  speak  out, 
when  we  see  all  power,  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive, 

^  These  astounding  facts  and  principles,  with  the  original  author- 
ities for  them,  are  disclosed  more  at  length  in  the  writings  of  Dr. 
Smyth,  to  whom  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  the  above  abstract  of 
them.  Compare,  especially,  Apost.  Succession,  pp.  507 — 509,  and 
Ecclesiastical  Republicanism,  pp.  153 — 172. 

^  Letters  to  the  Laity  by  a  Protestant  Episcopalian,  p.  17. 
23 


266  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHtTlCn. 

centred  in  one  man  in  such  ample  plenitude,  that  he  may 
even  dictate  to  the  fashion  of  a  surplice,  or  the  shape  of  a 
gown."3^ 

This  admirable  specimen  of  religious  legislation,  we  are 
toldy  was  actually  prepjired  by  the  bishop  himself,  and  ratified 
in  a  state  more  radically  democratic  than  any  other  in  the 
Union !  "  Let  any  man  read  that  constitution,  and  then  say, 
whether,  if  the  individual  who  has  been  thus  extravagantly 
exalted,  had  dared  to  brave  the  public  sentiment  of  the  country 
in  which  he  lives,  so  far  as  to  carry  out  into  practice  the  au- 
thority which  has  been  thus  lavishly  bestowed  upon  him,  we 
should  not  have  to  look  to  the  mountains  of  Vermont  for  the 
mightiest  spiritual  autocrat  at  present  inhabiting  the  globe, 
— with,  perhaps,  one  exception,  the  man  who  wears  the  tiara, 
and  builds  his  habitation  on  the  seven  hills."39 

Consider  now  this  enormous  extension  of  the  Episcopal 
power  in  this  enlightened  age,  in  this  free  republic, — this 
monstrous  spiritual  despotism  imposed  upon  a  people,  jealous 
above  all  men  of  their  rights,  and  prompt  to  repel  every  in- 
vasion of  them; — contemplate  such  a  people,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, with  scarcely  a  feeble  note  of  remonstrance, 
bowing  themselves  down  to  this  hierarchal  supremacy,  and 
shall  we  wonder  at  the  early  rise  of  a  mild  and  compara- 
tively unformed  Episcopacy?  Shall  we  marvel  at  the  gradual 
extension  of  its  influence  over  feeble  churches,  dependent 
for  their  support  and  protection  ?  Why  should  this  be  thought 
a  thing  incredible,  in  view  of  what  is  transpiring  in  the  midst 
of  us? 

3**  New  York  Review,  Oct.  1835,  cited  in  Letters  to  the  Laity. 

^^  Letters  to  the  Laity,  p.  27. — The  late  transactions  in  the  dio- 
cese of  New  York  are  fresh  in  the  public  mind,  and  familiar  to  all ; — 
the  high-handed  despotism  of  the  prelate,  and  the  profound  self- 
abasement  with  which  a  large  portion  of  his  clergy  could  consent  to 
kneel  down  in  the  dust  at  the  feet  of  their  sovereign  pontiff  and  crave 
his  benediction. 


CHAPTER   VIII, 

THE  DIOCESAN  GOVERNMENT. 

This  term  denotes  the  ecclesiastical  organization  which 
succeeded  a  fuller  development  of  the  Episcopal  system,  and 
further  concentration  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  bishop.  It 
was  gradually  matured,  and  was  settled  upon  the  churches  in 
the  several  provinces,  at  different  times,  extending  through  an 
indefinite  period.  The  establishment  of  this  form  of  govern- 
ment cannot  with  precision  be  assigned  to  a  specific  epoch. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  third  century  may  be  regarded  as 
the  period  in  which  the  diocesan  government  was  chiefly  con- 
solidated and  established.  It  was  the  result  of  a  variety  of 
causes,  which  deserve  a  careful  consideration,  and  was  pro- 
ductive of  consequences  of  great  moment  to  the  interests  of 
religion.  The  course  of  our  inquiries  in  relation  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  Diocesan  Episcopacy  will  lead  us  to  consider, 

I.  The  means  of  its  development. 

II.  Its  results. 

I.  Means  of  its  development. 

1.  The  formal  organization  of  the  diocesan  government 
was  chiefly  effected  by  means  of  provincial  synods  and  coun- 
cils. 

The  consideration  of  these  councils  belongs  to  another 
work.i  But  whatever  may  have  been  their  origin,  such  ec- 
clesiastical assemblies  were  regularly  held  in  Asia  Minor,  in 

^  Christian  Antiquities,  chap.  17.  §  9.  pp.  356 — 367. 


268  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  third  century,  and  were  frequently  convened  in  other 
provinces,  for  the  transaction  of  business  relating  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  church.2  They  were  summoned  by  the  presid- 
ing bishop  of  the  province.  The  bishops  of  the  province 
were  expected  to  attend,  and  if  any  were  present  from  other 
provinces,  they  were  courteously  recognized  as  members  of 
the  same.  The  presbyters  and  deacons,  also,  had  at  this 
time,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  a  seat  and  a  voice  in  these  coun- 
cils, though  at  a  later  period  they  were  excluded.  The 
council,  on  the  one  hand,  was  the  highest  judicature  of  the 
church,  where  all  that  related  to  its  interests  in  the  province 
was  discussed ;  on  the  other,  it  served  as  a  privy-council  to 
the  bishop.  Here,  especially,  were  all  cases  brought  relating 
to  the  bishops.  Cases  of  this  kind  could  only  be  brought  be- 
fore the  council  in  a  full  assembly  of  the  bishops,  and  even 
then  not  at  pleasure,  but  only  with  their  consent.  Such  an 
assembly,  it  must  readily  be  seen,  afforded  a  convenient  me- 
thod of  deciding  any  subject  of  common  interest  to  the  church- 
es;, though  the  bishops  themselves  probably  were  not  aware 
of  the  important  consequences  which  might  result  from  assum- 
ing thus  to  give  laws  to  the  church.  The  decisions  of  the 
synod,  also,  at  first,  assumed  the  form  of  law,  rather  by  com- 
itton  consent,  than  as  imperative  enactments.  They  were 
the  decisions  of  a  public  deliberative  and  representative  as- 
sembly, in  which  the  voice  of  the  majority  becomes  the  law 
of  the  whole ;  and  under  the  sanction  of  such  authority,  were 
received  as  the  rule  of  the  church.  But  the  bishops,  having 
once  acquired  the  power  of  giving  laws  to  the  church,  soon 
changed  the  ground  of  their  authority  ;  and,  instead  of  legis- 
lating for  those  churches  in  their  name,  and  as  their  reprc' 
sentatives,  they  assumed  the  right  of  giving  laws  to  the  church 
by  virtue  of  their  Episcopal  office ;  and  for  this  assumption, 

2  Necessario,  says  Firmilian,  A.  D.  257,  apud  nos  fit,  ut  per  singu- 
los  annos  seniores  et  praepositi  in  unum  conveniamus,  ad  disponenda 
ea  quae  curae  nostrae  comraissa  sunt, — Cyp,  Ep,  75.  p.  143. 


THE  DIOCESAN  GOVERNMENT.  269 

they  claimed,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  sanction  of 
divine  authority,  jure  divino,  as  the  ministers  of  God,  and  un- 
der the  guidance  of  his  Spirit.3 

The  above  representation  is  only  an  epitome  of  the  senti- 
ments of  Planck,  in  his  work  on  the  Constitution  of  the 
Church,  which  has  been  so  frequently  cited.^  They  accord 
entirely  with  the  representations  of  Mosheim,  and  many  oth- 
ers who  might  be  named. ^  Mosheim  remarks,  that  these 
councils  "  were  productive  of  so  great  an  alteration  in  the 
general  state  of  the  church,  as  nearly  to  effect  the  entire  sub- 
version of  its  ancient  constitution.  For,  in  the  first  place, 
the  primitive  rights  of  the  people,  in  consequence  of  this  new 
arrangement  of  things,  experienced  a  considerable  diminution, 
inasmuch  as  thenceforward  none  but  affairs  of  comparatively 
trifling  importance  were  ever  made  the  subject  of  popular  de- 
liberation and  adjustment ; — the  councils  of  the  associated 
churches  assuming  to  themselves  the  right  of  discussing  and 
regulating  everything  of  moment  or  importance ;  as  well  as 
of  determining  all  questions  to  which  any  sort  of  weight  was 
attached. — In  the  next  place,  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the 
bishops  were  very  much  augmented  and  enlarged.  In  the 
infancy,  indeed,  of  the  councils,  the  bishops  did  not  scruple 
to  acknowledge  that  they  appeared  there  merely  as  the  min- 
isters or  legates  of  their  respective  churches ;  and  that  they 
were  in  fact  nothing  more  than  representatives  acting  under 
instructions.  But  it  was  not  long  before  this  humble  lan- 
guage, began  by  little  and  little,  to  be  exchanged  for  a  loftier 

3  Placet .'  Visum  est !  is  the  style  not  unfrequently,  in  which  the 
summary  decisions  of  their  councils  are  given  ;  or  if  the  decision  re- 
lates to  an  article  of  faith,  credit  catholica  ecclesia  !  Athanasius,  De 
Synodo.  Arimin.  et  Seluciae,  Ferdin.  De  Mendoza,  De  Confirmatione 
Cone,  111.  Lib.  2.  c.  2,  cited  by  Spittler. 

4  Gesellschafts-Verfass.  1.  S.  90—100. 

^  Compare  also  Henke  and  Vater,  Allgemein.  Kirchen  Gesch.  I. 
S.  120  seq.  Eichhorn,  Can.  Recht.  I.  S.  20.  Riddle's  Chron.  pp. 
32, 33. 

23* 


270  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

tone ;  and  they,  at  length,  took  it  upon  them  to  assert  that 
they  were  the  legitimate  successors  of  the  apostles  themselves 
and  might,  consequently,  by  their  own  proper  authority,  dic- 
tate to  the  Christian  flock.  To  what  extent  the  inconveni- 
ences and  evils  arising  out  of  these  preposterous  pretensions 
reached  in  after  times,  is  too  well  known  to  require  any  par- 
ticular notice  in  this  place."6  Some  of  these  remarks,  how- 
ever, are  especially  applicable,  as  the  intelligent  reader  will 
perceive,  to  the  state  of  things  which  existed  somewhat  later, 
under  the  metropolitan  government. 

%  The  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  the  church  had  an  influ- 
ence in  consolidating  the  churches  under  an  Episcopal  gov- 
ernment. 

This  notion  was  early  developed.  It  first  occurs  in  the 
epistle  of  the  church  of  Smyrna,  concerning  the  martyrdom 
of  Polycarp.'''  It  was  more  distinctly  advanced  by  Irenaeus 
and  Tertullian,  in  the  second  century ;  and,  in  the  third,  be- 
came the  favorite  dogma  of  Cyprian,^  and,  after  him,  of 
many  others.9  The  effect  was  to  create  greater  oneness  of 
feeling  and  concert  of  action  among  the  churches  as  mem- 
bers of  one  and  the  same  body.  It  brought  the  churches  into 
more  frequent  correspondence;  and,  in  many  ways,  con- 
tributed to  the  establishment  of  uniform  laws  and  regulations 
under  an  Episcopal  hierarchy.^o  This  idea  of  a  holy  catholic 
church,  one  and  indivisible,  extending  through  all  lands,  and 
binding  together  in  one  communion  the  faithful  of  every  kin- 
dred and  people,  was  a  conception  totally  unlike  the  apostoli- 

8  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  II.  §  23;  Comp.  Saec.  II.  §  22;  Saec. 
III.  §  24.  Also,  Kirch.  Recht.  S.  65,  66. 

^  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  4.  c.  15.  §  1. 

^  Pro  corpore  totius  ecclesiae  cujus  per  varias  quasque  provincias 
jnembra  digesta  sunt. — Ep.  30.  p.  41. 

9  Planck,  Gesell,  Verfass.  I.  S.  100  seq.  Rothe,  Anf  Christ.  Kirch. 
I.  S.  576—589. 

10  Neander,  Allgem.  Gesch.  I.  S.  355,  371, 2d  ed.  D'Aubign6's 
'Hist,  of  the  Reformation.     N.  Y.  1843.  Vol.  I.  pp.  20—22. 


THE  DIOCESAN  GOVERNMENT.  27! 

cal  idea— of  union  in  love  and  fellowship  in  spirit.  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  motive  with  which  it  was  at  first  pro- 
mulgated, it  had  its  influence  in  blending  the  churches  to- 
gether under  a  uniform  diocesan  organization,  and  became 
the  occasion  of  no  small  share  of  the  bigotry,  intolerance  and 
persecution  which  have  so  often  dishonored  the  Christian 
church. 

3.  The  correspondence  and  intercourse  between  the  bish- 
ops of  different  provinces  had  much  influence  in  establishing 
their  diocesan  authority. 

Not  only  were  the  results  of  their  councils  officially  com- 
municated to  foreign  bishops  and  churches,  but  the  bishops 
themselves  of  different  dioceses  were  in  mutual  correspondence. 
Their  own  appointment  to  office,  and  their  various  official 
acts,  were  duly  communicated.  By  mutual  understanding 
they  acted  unitedly  and  in  concert,  and  aided  each  other  in 
the  promotion  of  their  common  ends.  Their  acts  of  ecclesi- 
astical censure  were  extensively  published ;  so  that  one  under 
the  Episcopal  ban  was  followed  by  his  sentence  of  excom- 
munication wherever  he  went.  He  must  also  return  to  his 
own  bishop  to  be  restored  again  to  the  fellowship  of  the 
church.  Without  credentials  also  duly  certified  by  his  dio- 
cesan no  stranger  was  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  any  body 
of  believers.  The  effect  of  these  regulations  was  to  sustain 
and  enforce  the  authority  of  the  bishops  in  their  dioceses.ii 

4.  The  Disciplina  Arcani,  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the 
church,  while  they  shed  an  air  of  awful  sanctity  over  its  so- 
lemnities were  well  suited  to  inspire  the  people  with  a  pro- 
found veneration  for  the  bishop,  who  was  the  high-priest  of 
these  rites  and  the  chief  agent  in  administering  them. 

The  discussion  of  this  subject  would  be  altogether  foreign 
to  our  present  object,  but  it  needs  no  peculiar  sagacity,  to 
perceive  that  the  system  addressed  itself  to  principles  of  ou.r 

"  Siegel,  Handbuch.  1.  art.  Briefwechsel,  Rheinwald's  Arch.  §  4. 
p.  99. 


2^  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

nature,  which  are  deep  and  strong,  and  which  acted  upon  by 
the  ministrations  of  the  bishop,  gave  him  prodigious  power 
over  the  minds  of  men.  This  secret  system,  wholly  un- 
known in  the  earlier  history  of  the  church,  was  in  a  measure 
matured  in  the  period  now  under  consideration.12 

5.  The  catechetical  instructions  and  discipline  preparatory 
to  admission  into  the  church,  had  a  powerful  influence  in 
giving  authority  to  the  doings  of  the  church,  and  preparing 
the  mind  for  a  passive  submission  to  her  jurisdiction. 

Throughout  the  first  century  Christian  converts  were  re- 
ceived by  baptism  into  the  church  simply  on  the  ground  of 
their  faith  in  Christ.  In  the  second  century  some  further 
instruction  began  to  be  required  ;  and,  in  the  course  of  the 
third  and  fourth,  a  long  preliminary  course  of  training  was 
necessary,  before  the  candidates  found  admission  to  the 
church.  They  were  divided  into  various  classes;  and,  as- 
cending by  slow  gradations  through  these,  with  manifold  so- 
lemnities, they  finally  approached  the  sacred  shrine  of  the 
church.  The  details  of  the  system  belong  to  another  sub- 
ject. But  every  reader,  who  has  the  least  acquaintance  with 
the  antiquities  of  the  church,  must  readily  perceive,  that  in 
this  long  course  of  discipline,  extending  often  through  a  series 
of  years,  the  catechumen  might  be  duly  trained  to  revere  the 
authority  of  the  church,  and  to  submit  with  all  deference  to 
the  agents  by  whom  it  was  administered.  Without  attribut- 
ing it  to  any  sinister  motive,  its  natural  effect  would  be  to 
inspire  a  profound  respect,  both  for  the  ordinances  of  the 
church,  and  for  those  who  administered  them.^3  "  These 
new  regulations,"  Planck  remarks,  "  were  the  surest  and 
strongest  means  man  could  have  devised  to  give  greater  im- 
portance to  the  church  in  the  eyes  of  the  new  members ; 
and  to  inspire  them  with  a  sense  of  the  importance  of  the 

»2  Comp.  the  author's  Christian  Antiquities,  c  1.    §  4.  pp.  35,  36. 
'3  Comp.  the  author's  Christian  Antiquities,  c.  2.  §  5.  pp.  49 — 57. 


THE  DIOCESAN  GOVERNMENT.  273 

privilege  bestowed  in  receiving  them  into  its  communion, 
which  again  would  revert  to  the  interests  of  the  church." ^^ 

6.  To  the  same  effect,  also,  was  all  that  system  of  pen- 
ance, which  was  matured  in  connection  with  the  foregoing 
regulations. 

This  was  wholly  unknown  in  the  early  period  of  the 
church.  It  was  developed  in  connection  with  the  catechet- 
ical discipline  which  has  already  been  mentioned,  and  was 
indeed  a  part  of  the  same  system.^s  It  was  administered  by 
the  bishop,  who  alone  had  authority  to  inflict  or  to  remove 
these  penances. ^6  it  was  a  scourge  in  his  hand  which  he 
could,  at  any  time,  apply  to  those  who  might  become  the  ob- 
jects of  his  displeasure. 

The  transgressor  who  fell  under  ecclesiastical  censure  was 
doomed  to  give  token  of  penitence,  by  a  long  train  of  the 
most  humiliating  acts,  better  suited  by  far  to  illustrate  the  tre- 

"  Gesell.  Verfass.  1.  S.  132. 

»=  Planck,  Gesell.  Verfass.  1.  S.  132—141. 

16  The  councils  of  Nice,  A.  D.  325,  c.  5,  and  of  Antioch,  A.  D. 
341,  c.  20,  make  some  provision  against  the  flagrant  injustice  which 
one  might  suffer  in  this  way  from  the  bishop.  But  the  council  of 
Elliberis,  A.  D.  305,  and  of  Sardica,  A.  D.  347,  give  to  the  bishop 
unlimited  authority  in  this  matter.  Osius,  episcopus  dixit.  Hoc 
quoque  omnibus  placeat,  ut  sive  diaconus,  sive  presbyter,  sive  quia 
clericorum  ab  episcopo  suo  communione  fuerit  privatus,  et  ad  alterum 
perrexerit  episcopum,  et  scierit  ille  ad  quem  confugit,  eum  ab  episco- 
po suo  fuisse  abjectum,  non  oportet  ut  ei  communionem  indulgeat. 
Quod  si  fecerit,  sciat  se  convocatis  episcopis  causas  esse  dicturum. 
Universi  dixerunt :  Hoc  statutum  et  pacem  servabit,  et  concordiam 
custodiet,  c,  13  (16).  This  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  councils 
of  the  age.  It  was  composed  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  bishops 
convened  both  from  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches,  at  the  head 
of  whom  was  the  venerable  Hosius,  who  it  would  seem  proposed  it 
as  an  expedient  to  preserve  peace  and  harmony  among  the  bishops. — 
El'ris  xX^QiHog  ij  Xainoi  dffOjQiofcivog  ijrot  aSsxrog,  aTtsld'tav  iv  iteg^ 
TToAit,  Sex&fj  avtv  yQafi(j,drujv  avorartxwVj  d(po^cttad'oj  xal  6  Ss^d/us- 
voe  xal  6  Ssy&^^S  •  el  ^i  d(poj(}iGfievog  tir],  iintsiviad'O)  avrcS  6  dtpo- 
^lofiog,  (ag  ipsvaofjiivd^  xal  aTtarrjaavTi  ttJv  txxhjaiav  xov  ■d'aov. — Can. 
-4po5M2(l3).p.  2. 


274  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  •     ^^gL 

mendous  power  of  the  bishop  than  to  lead  the  offender  to 
true  repentance.  However  that  may  be,  a  despotic  govern- 
ment is  strong  and  stable  in  proportion  to  the  force  of  those 
sanctions,  by  which  it  secures  obedience  to  its  authority. 
The  rigors  of  this  penance,  accordingly,  invested  the  dioce- 
san'with  authority  adequate  to  the  administration  of  his  gov- 
ernment. 

If  any  minister  received  to  his  communion  one  who  had 
not  fulfilled  the  appointed  penance,  he  was  himself  liable  to 
the  sentence  of  excommunication. 

II.  Results  of  the  diocesan  organization. 

Under  this  head  we  shall  confine  our  attention  chiefly  to 
its  influence  in  establishing  an  aristocracy  in  the  church, 
and  in  preparing  the  way  for  a  full  development  of  the  hie- 
rarchy, under  a  metropolitan  organization,  to  which  the  dio- 
cesan soon  gave  place. 

1.  It  established  the  pre-eminence  of  the  bishop  in  the 
city  over  the  neighboring  churches. 

The  distinction  which  conventional  usage  had  first  given 
him  now  became  an  established  right.  It  was  his  official 
prerogative  to  nominate  the  presbyters  to  these  churches. 
These  presbyters  continued  still  dependent  upon  him ;  and 
the  churches  themselves  acknowledged  a  similar  relation  to 
the  parent  church.  Thus  his  became  a  cathedral  churchy 
uhi  cathedra  episcopiy  from  which  the  others  had  proceeded, 
and  to  which  they  acknowledged  a  filial  relation. 

2.  It  was  a  virtual  disfranchisement  of  the  laity. 

They  had,  indeed,  a  voice  in  the  elections  of  the  bishop  ; 
and  some  little  participation  still  in  the  management  of  the 
concerns  of  the  church.  But  the  sovereignty  of  the  people 
was  effectually  lost.  Everything  was  done  agreeably  to  the 
will  of  the  bishops,  who  united  in  themselves  the  right  to  make 
and  execute  laws  for  the  government  of  the  church.  This 
union  of  the  executive  and  legislative  power  in  the  same  per- 


THE  DIOCESAN  GOVERNMENT.  275 

sons  was  subversive  of  all  true  religious  liberty,  as  it  ever  has 
been  of  all  political  freedom.  It  removed  the  checks  and 
guards  of  a  popular  government  against  the  exercise  of  arbi- 
trary power.  It  invested  the  bishops  with  prerogatives,  which 
can  never  be  entrusted,  with  safety,  to  any  man  or  body  of 
men.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  church  abundantly  il- 
lustrates the  disastrous  consequences  of  this  surrender  of  the 
popular  rights  into  the  hands  of  the  clergy.  "  To  revive 
Christ's  church  is  to  expel  the  Antichrist  of  the  priesthood, 
which,  as  it  was  foretold  of  him,  as  God,  sittdh  in  the  temple  of 
God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God,  and  to  restore  its  dis- 
franchised members,  the  laity,  to  the  discharge  of  their  pro- 
per duties  in  it,  and  to  the  consciousness  of  their  paramount 
importance."''*^ 

3.  The  government  was  oppressive  to  the  laity,  as  it  en- 
trusted to  the  bishop  exclusively  the  right  of  ecclesiastical 
censure. 

This  right,  again,  may  have  been  exercised,  at  first,  with 
moderation,  and  often  with  single  regard  to  the  purity  of  the 
church  and  the  honor  of  religion.  But  it  gave  the  bishops 
a  dangerous  control  over  the  private  members  of  the  church. 
Its  tendency  was  to  inspire  them  with  the  fear  of  man ;  to 
make  them  more  careful  to  escape  the  censure  of  the  dioce- 
san, than  anxious  to  avoid  sinning  against  God.  How  strict- 
ly this  prerogative  of  the  bishop  was  guarded  we  have  al- 
ready seen.  The  passport  of  the  bishop  was  indispensable 
to  commend  a  stranger  to  the  fellowship  of  his  Christian 
brethren.  The  absence  of  this  was  presumptive  evidence 
against  him.  Under  censure,  he  had  no  redress,  however 
unjustly  it  might  have  been  inflicted  ;  and  could  only  be  re- 
stored at  the  pleasure  of  his  own  diocesan.  Such  was  the 
subjugation  to  which  this  system  of  government  reduced  the 
laity  ; — a  subjugation,  to  which  the  laity  of  the  Episcopal 
church  in  America  seem  also  to  be  rapidly  sinking,  under 

"  Christian  Life,  by  Arnold,  p.  52. 


276  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

the  continual  encroachments  of  the  bishops  upon  their  rights. 
**  To  confine  the  decisions  of  all  cases  which  must  arise  in 
every  well-ordered  society,  to  the  clergymen,  or  to  the  clergy 
alone,  and  thus  to  consolidate  in  their  hands  the  entire  gov- 
ernment of  the  body,  is  contrary  to  the  very  first  law  of  all 
society,  which  provides  that  no  man  shall  be  judge  in  his  own 
cause.  On  this  principle,  there  is  no  society,  no  freedom,  no 
protection  from  oppressive  and  despotic  rule,  no  bulwark 
against  that  resistless  tide,  with  which  power,  when  lodged 
in  the  hands  of  a  few  weak  and  imperfect  men,  encroaches 
upon  the  territory,  and  the  just  rights,  of  all  who  are  opposed 
to  it.  Nor  can  that  ecclesiastical  system  be  possibly  repub- 
lican, or  consonant  to  the  genius  of  our  free  commonwealths 
which  subjugates  the  laity  to  the  clergy,  and  the  inferior 
clergy,  as  they  are  ignobly  called,  to  the  higher,  and  which 
attaches  a  supremacy  of  power  to  an  aristocratic  class.''^^ 

4.  It  destroyed  the  independence  of  the  clergy  under  the 
diocesan. 

They  who,  by  their  proximity  to  the  bishop,  were  brought 
into  familiar  intercourse  with  him,  or  were  not  so  immediately 
dependent  upon  him,  still  maintained  a  certain  degree  of  inde- 
pendence. But  the  principle  of  subordination,  and  of  sub- 
jection to  the  authority  of  the  diocesan,  was  inherent  in  the 
system,  and  clearly  manifested.  His  authority  was,  indeed, 
far  less  oppressive  at  first  than  it  afterwards  became.  There 
was  a  strong  republican  spirit,  that  could  not  be  rooted  out, 
or  crushed  at  once.  The  churches  had  still  some  voice  in 
the  management  of  their  affairs.  They  had  a  right  to  ap- 
point, and  to  remove  their  clergy  at  pleasure, — a  right,  which 
even  Cyprian,  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  fully  ac- 
knowledges. He  admits,  that  the  "people,  in  obedience  to 
the  commands  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  fear  of  God,  ought  to 
separate  themselves  from  a  minister  of  an  immoral  character ; 
nor  should  they  mingle  in  the  services  of  a  sacrilegious  priest, 

18  Smyth's  E  ccl.  Republicanism,  pp.  81,  82. 


THE  DIOCESAN  GOVERNMENT.  277 

for  they  especially  have  power  to  choose  the  worthy,  and  to  re- 
fuse the  unworthy."i9  This  right  of  the  church  afforded  the 
clergy,  also,  the  means  of  resisting  the  encroachments  of  the 
bishops,  by  making  interest  with  the  people.  It  was,  accor- 
dingly, the  policy  of  the  bishops  at  this  time,  to  exercise  their 
authority  with  moderation. 

The  presbyters  also  were  still  the  privy-counsellors  of  the 
bishop,  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  and  preached  and  baptized 
in  common  with  him,  with  this  distinction,  that  in  the  dis- 
charge of  these  duties,  the  bishop  took  precedence  of  the 
other  clergy.  Still  the  authority  of  the  bishop  was  such  as 
practically  to  destroy  the  independence  of  the  clergy ;  and,  in 
theory,  was  imperative  over  them. 

But  the  bishops  soon  found  means  to  effect  the  complete 
subjection  of  the  clergy  to  their  control.  They  allowed  them 
in  no  instance,  to  travel  into  a  neighboring  province  without 
a  passport  from  the  bishop.  Much  less  could  a  presbyter  or 
deacon  transfer  himself  from  one  church  to  another,  without 
the  bishop's  consent.  If  any  one  should  presume  so  to  do,  or 
if  another  should  receive  him  who  came  without  the  bishop's 
consent,  the  consequence  was  expulsion  from  office.20 

^^  Propter  quod  plebs,  obsequens  praeceptis  dominicis  et  Deum, 
metuens,  a  peccatore  praeposito  separate  debet,  nee  se  ad  sacrilegi 
sacerdotis  sacrificia  miscere  quoniam  ipsa  maximc  habeat  potestatem 
vel  eligendi  dignos  sacerdotes,  vel  indignos  recusandi. — Ep.  68.  p.  118. 
20  El  Tiq  TiQEalSvTSQog  ?j  dtuxovog  t]  oXag  tov  xcnccXoyov  xtav 
vXriQi-iiSiV  a.TcoXel^ag  xi]V  iavrov  TtaQoixiav  slg  ixsQav  aneXd-t],  not 
Traytdw?  (iSTaaxag  diarQl^j]  iv  aXXjj  nagoutlu  nccga  yvw^rjv  tov 
l8i,ov  irtKTxonov '  xovxov  tteXEVofiev  firjxixL  XuxovQyuv,  fxaXiaxa  el 
ngogjcaXovfiivov  avxbv  xov  iniaxonov  cclxov  iTiavBX&slv  olx  vnr{- 
xovffsv  inifiivMV  xfi  axa^lcc '  w?  Xa'ixog  fxivxoi  ixetas  xoLVtavdxta. — 
Apost  Can.,  14  (15),  Bruns,  p.  3.  Comp.  also,  Cone.  Antioch,  c. 
3.  Laodic.  c.  42.  Arelat.  c.  21.  Chalced.  c.  20.  Nice,  c.  16. 
Carthag.  1.  c.  5.  Sardic.  16,  18,  etc.,  etc.  Siegel,  11.  S.  462. 
24 


278  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

5  It  entrusted  the  bishop  with  a  dangerous  prerogative,  by 
giving  him  the  control  of  the  revenues  of  the  church. 

This  was  a  prerogative  alike  dangerous  and  unjust  in  its 
character,  and  injurious  in  its  practical  results.  It  was  an 
established  principle  in  the  polity  of  the  church,  at  this  time, 
that  the  bishop,  who  had  the  supremacy  in  spiritual  things, 
ought  the  more  to  have  the  same  in  things  temporal.21  Ac- 
cordingly, the  goods  and  property  of  the  church,  its  revenues, 
and  receipts  of  every  kind,  were  submitted  to  the  disposal  of 
the  bishop.  It  was,  indeed,  expected  that  they  would  be  used 
with  moderation,  and  equitably  distributed,  according  to  a 
certain  rule.  The  other  clergy  were  entitled  to  act  in  concert 
with  the  bishop  in  the  distribution ;  but  there  was  still  abun- 
dant opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  arbitrary  power.  The 
bishop  was  virtually,  amenable  to  no  one,  for  he  could  only 
be  impeached  by  his  clergy,  who  received  their  monthly  ra- 
tions from  him,  divisionem  mensurnam^  and  who  accordingly, 
would  be  slow  to  endanger  their  living  by  exposing  themselves 

21  UdvTwv  xwv  ixxXrjffiaiTTLXMV  nQay^ontav  6  inlanonog  e/sTW 
Tijy  cpQOVTida  xal  dioLXEkw  avxcc,  wg  ■dsov  icpOQoJvTog'  fiij  i^slvai 
ds  aviM  a(fiTiQiC,i:a\^al  rt  cl  avjojv  ij  avyyiviaiv  Idloig  xa  tov 
'&B011  ;^«^/^fo-T5^ai  •  eI  ds  nivrjjsg  sifv,  ini/ogrj/etKO  c5?  nsvrjaiv, 
aXka  fii}  ngocpdasL  jovtov  tot  rr^g  ixxlrjalag  ans/ATioXdro),  ITqo(T- 
TOLTTOfiiv  inlaxonov  i^ovaiav  e;(8iv  T(av  xii]g  ixuXTjaiag  nga/fuxxav  * 
{(  yoiQ  Tag  xifxmg  xwv  (xv&Qbmiav  \pvxng  avxM  niffTsvxiov,  noXXoi 
av  (ioiXXov  Sioi  inl  x6)v  xQr]{ioiT(av  ivxsXXsa&oii,  coaxs  xaxa  xi]v  av- 
rov  i^ovaiav  navxn  dioiH8la&ai,  xal  xolg  dso^roig  dia  twi'  ngsa- 
Pvxiqoav  xal  diaxovuv  inixoQTj/Ha&ai  fiexa  cpo^ov  jov  ■&(ov  xal 
nddfjg  svXa^dag '  finaXafipdvBLV  ds  xal  avxov  xwy  dsovxatv  [tXys 
dioiTo)  stg  xdg  dvayxaiag  avxM  XQslag  xal  xmv  sTii^svovfisvcov 
ddsXcpmv,  d>g  xaxa  firjdiva  xqotcov  alxovg  vaxfQua&ai '  6  yug  v6~ 
fiog  xov  '&fov  disxtt^aio,  xovgxa  ^vcriaaxriQlm  vnTjgsxoZvxag  ix  xov 
S^vaiavTTiQiov  XQscps(T&at'  snslnsq  ovds  (ngaxiojxai  noxs  Idioig 
oipMvioig  onXa  xaxa  noXs^lav  STiKpsgovxai. — AposU  Can.  37  (39), 
40  (41),  Bruns,  pp.  6,  7. 


THE  DIOCESAN  GOVERNMENT.  279 

to  his  displeasure.  Under  these  circumstances,  they  were 
reduced  to  a  humiliating  subordination,  which  exposed  them 
to  the  oppressive  exactions  of  arbitrary  power,  while  it  gave 
security  to  the  bishop  in  the  exercise  of  it.  How  closely 
some  of  our  modern  bishops  have  copied  after  this  odious  ca- 
non, we  have  seen  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  council  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  341,  gave  the  bishops  en- 
tire control  over  all  the  property  of  the  church ;  and  the  sy- 
nod of  Gangra,  A.  D.  362 — 370,  pronounced  their  solemn 
anathema  upon  any  one  who  should  either  give  or  receive  any 
of  the  goods  of  the  church  without  authority  from  the  bish- 
op.22  The  oppressive  results  of  this  system  are  clearly  and 
concisely  stated  by  Siegel,23  and  more  at  length  by  Planck.24 
Without  the  guidance  of  another,  however,  they  must  be 
obvious  to  any  one.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  church 
is  the  best  expositor  of  this  policy  ;  as  unjust,  as  it  was  impoli- 
tic and  injurious.  "  Responsibility  to  the  people,  is,  there- 
fore, a  fundamental  principle  of  republicanism ;  a  responsibili- 
ty which  gives  the  most  insignificant  contributor  of  his  mo- 
ney towards  any  object,  a  right  to  examine  into  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  disbursed."25 

22  EV  jLg  xaQTiocpoQiag  ixi(Xrj(Tia<nixccg  i&sXot  Xafi^avELV  ^  di- 
dovai  I'Jw  Ti]g  ixxXrjcrlag  notqa  yvbtfitjv  xov  iniaxonov  rj  tov  iyxs- 
X8iQia(xivov  TOE  Toiccvxaj  xal  firj  fistci  /vcofjrjg  amov  i&iXoL  tiquj- 
TEiv,  avdd^ffiu  S(TTb).  El' Tig  didolT}  Xafx^dvoi  tcagnoqjoglav  na- 
QEXTog  rov  ettkthouov  y  tov  iniTSTay^ivov  tig  olxovo^ulav  ivnouagf 
x«t  o  Sidovg  xal  6  Xnfi^dvwv  dvdx)^s(xa  saT(o. — Cone.  Gang.  7,  8, 
Bruns,  p.  108.     Comp.  Cone.  Aurel.  1.  c.  14,  15. 

2^  Handbuch,  11.  S.  463.  ^  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  381—402. 

25  "  The  great  rule  of  all  free  institutions, — that  the  people  alone 
shall  lay  taxes, — a  vital  principle  of  all  constitutional  government, — 
an  essential  guaranty  of  all  safe  public  administration, — has  become 
involved,  is  at  stake  ;  that  solemn  canon  of  republican  creeds, — that 
high  fundamental  law, — no,  sir,  not  a  law,  the  mere  part  of  a  code, 
or  a  constitution  ;  it  is  itself  a  constitution  ;  for,  give  but  that,  and 
a  real  constitution  must  follow  ;  take  it  away,  and  there  is  an  end  of 


Ji80  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

6.  It  gave  the  bishop  unjust  power  over  the  clergy,  by  allow- 
ing him  to  inflict  upon  them  ecclesiastical  censure. 

These  censures  were,  indeed,  administered  at  first  with 
caution,  and  not  without  the  concurrence  of  apart,  at  least,  of 
the  clergy  and  of  the  church.  Such  moderation  was  requisite, 
to  prevent  a  combination  of  the  clergy  and  the  people  against 
the  bishop ;  and  the  more  so,  before  the  introduction  of  that 
insidious  regulation  which  gave  the  bishop,  who  inflicted  the 
penalty,  the  sole  right  of  removing  it  at  pleasure.  This  craf- 
ty policy,  introduced  partly  by  direct  coalition  on  the  part  of 
the  bishops,  and  partly  by  silent  consent  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  had  more  influence  than  any  other  in  completing  the 
subjugation  of  the  clergy,  and  settling  upon  the  churches 
the  government  of  an  oppressive  ecclesiastical  aristocracy. 
The  right  of  appeal  to  the  civil  authority  was  also  strictly 
denied.26 

7.  It  was  the  occasion,  in  a  great  degree,  of  breaking 
down  the  good  order  and  discipline  of  the  church,  which 
had  hitherto  prevailed. 

This  was  the  direct  result  of  those  collisions  between  the 
bishops  and  presbyters,  to  which  we  have  already  alluded. 
"  The  bishops  claimed  to  have  the  highest  authority,  and 
acted  accordingly  in  the  government  of  the  church.  The 
presbyters  refused  to  acknowledge  this  claim,  and  strove  to 
make  themselves  independent  of  the  bishops.  This  strife 
between  the  Presbyterian  and  Episcopal  systems  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  developing  the  moral  and  religious 
state  of  the  church  in  the  third  century.  Many  presbyters 
made  use  of  their  influence  to  disturb  the  order  and  disci- 
pline of  the  church.  This  strife  was,  in  every  way,  inju- 
rious to  its  order  and  discipline.''^? 

all  practical  freedom." — Mr.  Archer's  Speech  m  Congress,  Aug.  1, 
1842.  See  Locke  on  Government,  c.  7.  §  94.  Works,  Vol.  II.  p. 
254. — Smyth's  Eccl.  Republicanism,  p.  27. 

^  Cone.  Antioch,  Can.  11. 

«'  Neander,  Allgem.  Kirch.  Gesch.  1.  S.  329,  330, 2d  ed. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT. 

This  was  a  more  comprehensive  organization,  to  which 
the  diocesan  soon  gave  place.  It  is  not  easy  to  determine 
with  precision  the  date  of  its  establishment.  It  was  not  the 
production  of  a  day,  but  the  result  of  a  gradual  modification 
of  the  diocesan  government,  by  a  further  concentration  of 
Episcopal  power,  and  the  extension  of  its  influence  over  a 
wider  range  of  territory.  These  modifications  were  not  al- 
together the  same  in  every  country,  nor  were  they  simulta- 
neously effected.  The  metropolitan  government  was  devel- 
oped in  the  Eastern  church  as  early  as  the  first  half  of  the 
fourth  century.  The  council  of  Nice,  A.  D.  325,  c.  4, 
ordered,  that  the  "  bishops  should  in  the  provinces  be  subject 
to  the  metropolitan ;"  and  again,  c.  6,  "  that  no  one  should 
be  appointed  bishop  without  the  consent  of  the  metropoli- 
tan." The  council  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  341,  c.  9,  defined  and 
established  fully  the  rights  of  the  metropolitan. 

The  establishment  of  a  hierarchy  in  the  West  followed  at 
a  period  somewhat  later.  The  Christian  religion  was  not 
introduced  so  early  into  the  West,  as  into  the  East.  It  was 
also  still  more  blended  with  paganism,  especially  in  the  pro- 
vinces and  remote  districts ;  and  the  government  of  the 
churches  was  more  unsettled  than  in  those  of  the  East. 
Still,  the  metropolitan  government  was  finally  introduced  in- 
to the  several  districts  of  the  Western  church, 
24* 


282  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

The  capital  of  the  province  was  not,  of  necessity,  the 
seat  of  the  metropolitan  see,  nor  did  the  limits  of  metropoli- 
tan jurisdiction  uniformly  coincide  with  those  of  a  province. 
In  Africa  peculiar  respect  was  paid  to  seniority  in  office. 
The  bishop  of  Carthage,  however,  was  usually  regarded  as 
the  primate  of  the  country.  The  African  church  was  also 
distinguished  for  its  peculiar  attachment  to  the  free  and  pop- 
ular constitution  of  the  primitive  church ;  and,  to  some  ex- 
tent, successfully  resisted  the  encroachments  of  metropoli- 
tan usurpation.  It  would  be  interesting  to  pursue  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  and  inquire  into  the  causes  which  led 
to  the  selection  of  those  cities  which  became  the  seats,  respect- 
ively, of  the  several  metropolitan  sees,  but  we  must  content 
ourselves  with  simply  saying,  that  this  distinction  was  con- 
ferred upon  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Caesarea,  Alexandria,  Eph- 
esus,  Corinth,  Rome,  Carthage,  Lyons,  and  others.  Thus 
in  time  the  metropolitan  government,  in  place  of  the  dioce- 
san, was  settled  upon  the  whole  Christian  church. 

I.  Means  of  its  establishment. 

The  supremacy  which  the  bishops  had  already  acquired, 
together  with  the  rapid  extension  of  Christianity,  soon  in- 
troduced this  organization  as  a  new  form  of  the  hierarchy. 
After  becoming  the  state  religion  under  Constantine,  Chris- 
tianity spread  with  great  rapidity.  Small  churches  became 
large  Christian  communities,  of  sufficient  importance  to 
claim  the  privilege  of  having  bishops  of  their  own,  in  the 
place  of  presbyters.  These  bishops,  however,  like  the  pres- 
byters who  preceded  them,  still  sustained  certain  relations  to 
the  bishop  of  the  metropolis ;  and,  in  many  ways,  conceded 
to  him  the  pre-eminence.  It  was  his  prerogative  to  summon 
the  meetings  of  the  synod,  to  make  the  introductory  address, 
to  preside  over  their  deliberations,  and  to  publish  the  results 
of  their  council.  The  publication  of  these  results  made  him 
known  in  all  the  churches.     All  official  returns  from  other 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  283 

churches  and  councils  were  also  made  to  him, — all  which 
contributed  to  establish  his  superiority,  and  to  give  him  a 
controlling  influence  over  the  other  bishops  of  the  province. 
These  provincial  bishops  soon  became  emulous  of  receiv- 
ing consecration  at  the  hands  of  the  metropolitan ;  and,  ac- 
cordingly, he  began  as  opportunity  presented,  to  assume  to 
himself  the  exclusive  right  of  ordaining.  Thus  the  process 
of  centralization  went  steadily  on,  widening  the  circle  of  its 
influence,  and  drawing  those  at  a  greater  distance  within 
the  power  of  the  primate. 

This  authority  was,  as  yet,  wholly  conventional,  so  that 
his  official  superiority  was  virtually  conceded  to  him,  and  es- 
tablished, before  the  intention  was  entertained  of  confirming 
it  by  statute-law.  The  name  of  Metropolitan  had  not  yet 
been  conferred  upon  him,  but  in  the  councils  of  this  period 
he  is  styled  primate,  primate  of  the  apostolical  see,  etc.^  But 
about  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  prerogatives 
of  the  metropolitan  began  to  be  the  subject  of  statute-regu- 
lations. As  in  civil  matters,  the  smaller  towns  and  villages 
were  dependent  upon  the  larger,  and  all  mutually  dependent 
upon  the  capital  of  the  province,  so  in  the  church,  the 
country  was  divided  into  ecclesiastical  districts,  correspond- 
ing, even  in  name,  with  those  of  the  state.  Thus  the  church 
received  from  the  Roman  state,  without  change  of  significa- 
tion, the  terms,  metropolis,  diocese,  etc. ;  so  that  the  names 
of  the  different  orders  of  the  clergy  denoted  not  their  official 
duties,  so  much  as  their  local  relations  and  relative  rank. 
Hence,  the  names  of  rural  and  city  bishops,— provinciaJf 
diocesan,  and  metropolitan.^ 

We  have  now  reached  that  period  in  the  history  of  the 
church,  in   which    its   government  appears  in  almost  total 

^  Com.  Ziegler's  Versuch.  S.  69 — 71 . 

^  The  development  of  the  metropolitan  system  is  briefly  stated 
by  Siegel,  Handbuch,  11.  S.  264  seq. ;  and  more  at  length,  by  Planck, 
Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  572—598,  and  by  Ziegler,  S.  61—164. 


284  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

contrast  with  that  of  its  apostolical  and  primitive  organiza- 
tion. The  supreme  authority  is  no  longer  vested  in  the 
church  collectively,  under  a  popular  administration,  but  in 
an  ecclesiastical  aristocracy ;  and  the  government  of  the 
church  is  thus  entrusted  to  a  clerical  hierarchy,  who  both 
make  and  administer  the  laws,  without  the  intervention  of 
the  people.  This,  then,  is  a  proper  point  at  which  to  pause, 
and  contemplate  the  practical  results  of  the  system  of  eccle- 
siastical polity  which  has  taken  the  place  of  that  which  the 
church  originally  received  at  the  hands  of  the  apostles. 

II.  Results  of  the  system. 

These  may  be  contemplated  in  their  relations  to  the  laity, 
to  the  clergy,  and  to  the  general  interests  of  religion. 

1.  In  regard  to  the  laity. 

(a)  It  destroyed  the  sovereignty  of  the  church  as  a  collec- 
tive body. 

The  sovereign  authority  had  formerly  been  vested,  not  in 
the  apostles,  not  in  the  clergy,  but  in  the  whole  body  of  the 
church.  Its  members,  collectively,  enjoyed  the  inherent 
right  of  all  popular  assemblies, — that  of  enacting  their  own 
laws  and  regulations,  and  of  controlling  the  execution  of  them 
by  electing  their  own  officers,  for  the  administration  of  their 
government.  Under  the  Episcopal  government,  this  cardi- 
nal right,  the  only  basis  of  all  rational  liberty,  civil  or  reli- 
gious, was  taken  away  from  them.  They  had  no  part  in 
framing  the  rules  by  which  they  were  governed.  Though  they 
still  retained  some  control  over  the  election  of  their  spiritual 
rulers,  the  system  itself  was  already  a  virtual  disfranchise- 
ment of  the  people ;  and  finally  resulted  in  the  total  separa- 
tion of  the  people  from  all  part  even  in  the  elections  to  eccle- 
siastical offices.  The  law-making  power  was  now  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  bishops,  who  gave  laws  to  the  people,  under 
the  pretended  sanction  of  divine  authority,  and  executed  them 
at  their  own  pleasure.     The  result  is  given  by  Planck,  in  the 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  285 

following  terms :  "  From  the  spirit  of  most  of  the  ordinances 
which  these  new  lawgivers  made  for  the  laity,  this  much,  at 
least,  is  apparent  in  the  execution  of  them,  that  they  were  di- 
rectly designed  or  adapted  to  bring  the  people  yet  more  un- 
der the  yoke  of  the  clergy,  or  to  give  them  opportunity  more 
frequently  and  firmly  to  exercise  their  power."3 

(b)  It  exposed  the  laity  to  unjust  exactions,  by  uniting  the 
legislative  and  executive  branches  of  government. 

The  union  of  these  has  ever  been  the  grand  expedient  of 
despotic  usurpation  ;  and  it  is  as  true  in  church  as  in  state, 
that  when  these  two  great  departments  of  government  are 
united  in  one  and  the  same  man,  or  body  of  men,  the  subju- 
gation of  the  people  is  well  nigh  completed.  They  may  have 
wise  and  good  magistrates,  who  will  graciously  extend  over 
them  a  virtuous  administration  ;  but  the  checks  and  restraints 
by  which  the  popular  rights  are  guarded  in  every  free  gov- 
ernment, are  effectually  removed.  They  were  thus  taken 
away  in  the  church  by  the  organization  now  under  consider- 
ation. The  people  had  no  adequate  protection  against  the 
exercise  of  arbitrary  power,  nor  any  available  mode  of  redress, 
under  the  injustice  to  which  they  stood  exposed. 

But  the  clergy  enjoyed  many  privileges,  by  which  on  the 
one  hand  they  were  in  a  measure  shielded  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  law,  and  on  the  other,  were  entrusted  with  civil 
and  judicial  authority  over  the  laity.  Three  particulars  are 
stated  by  Planck. 

1.  In  certain  civil  cases  they  exercised  a  direct  jurisdiction 
over  the  laity. 

2.  The  state  submitted  entirely  to  them  the  adjudication 
of  all  offences  of  the  laity,  of  a  religious  nature. 

3.  Certain  other  cases,  styled  ecclesiastical,  causae  ecclesi- 
asticae,  were  tried  before  them  exclusively. 

The  practical  influences  of  this  arrangement,  and  its  effects 

8  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  452,  453. 


^86  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

upon  the  clergy  and  the  laity,  are  detailed  by  the  same  author, 
to  whom  we  must  refer  the  reader.^ 

(c)  The  laity  were  separated  injuriously  from  the  control 
of  the  revenues  which  they  contributed  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  government  of  the  church,  and  for  charitable  pur- 
poses. 

This  obnoxious  feature  in  the  ecclesiastical  polity  which 
prevailed  at  this  time,  has  been  already  mentioned.  It  is, 
obviously,  an  equitable  principle,  that  every  man  or  body  of 
men  should  be  at  liberty  to  do  as  they  will  with  their  own. 
This  principle  requires  every  government  that  respects  the 
rights  of  the  people,  to  submit  to  them,  in  some  form,  the  con- 
trol of  the  revenue.  To  deny  them  this  right  is  injustice,  op- 
pression, unmitigated  despotism.  The  hierarchy  was  a  spirit- 
ual despotism,  which  completed  the  subjugation  of  people,  by 
depriving  them  of  a  just  participation  in  the  disbursement  of 
the  revenues  of  the  church.  All  measures  of  this  nature,  in- 
stead of  originating  with  the  people,  as  in  all  popular  govern- 
ments, began  and  ended  with  the  priesthood.5  The  wealth  of 
the  laity  was  now  made  to  flow  in  streams  into  the  church. 
New  expedients  were  devised  to  draw  money  from  them.6 
Constantine  himself  also  contributed  large  sums  to  enrich  the 
coffers  of  that  church,  which  he  also  authorized,  A.  D.  321, 
to  inherit  property  by  will.?  This  permission  opened  new 
sources  of  wealth  to  the  clergy,  while  it  presented  equal  in- 

4  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  308  seq. 

*  Cone.  Gan.  Can.  7,  8.  Bracar.  11.  c.  7.  The  above  canons 
clearly  indicate  the  unjust  and  oppressive  operation  of  this  system. 

^  It  was  a  law  of  the  church  in  the  fourth  century,  that  the  laity 
should,  every  Sabbath,  partake  of  the  sacrament ;  the  effect  of  which 
law  was  to  augment  the  revenues  of  the  church,  each  communicant 
being  required  to  bring  his  offering  to  the  altar.  Afterwards,  when 
this  custom  was  discontinued,  the  offering  was  still  claimed. — Cong. 
Agath.  A.  D.  585.  c.  4. 

7  Cod.  Theod.  4,  16.  Tit.  2,  C.  4.  Euseb.  Lib.  10.  6.  Sozomen, 
Lib.  I.e.  8.     Lib. 5.  5. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  287 

centives  to  their  cupidity.  With  what  address  they  employed 
their  newly-acquired  rights  is  apparent  from  the  fact  stated 
by  Planck,  "that  in  the  space  often  years  every  man,  at  his 
decease,  left  a  legacy  to  the  church  ;  and,  within  fifty  years 
the  clergy  in  the  several  provinces,  under  the  color  of  the 
church,  held  in  their  possession  one  tenth  part  of  the  entire 
property  of  the  province.  By  the  end  of  the  fourth  century, 
the  emperors  themselves  were  obliged  to  interpose  to  check 
the  accumulation  of  these  immense  revenues : — a  measure 
which  Jerome  said  he  could  not  regret,  but  he  could  only 
regret  that  his  brethren  had  made  it  necessary."^  Many  other 
expedients  were  employed  to  check  this  insatiable  cupidity, 
but  they  only  aggravated  the  evil  which  they  were  intended 
to  remove. 

{d)  The  system  in  question  was  not  only  a  violation  of  the 
natural  rights  of  the  laity,  but  it  was  equally  injurious  to  their 
spiritual  interests. 

If  it  be  important  that  the  people  should  appoint  their  ru- 
lers in  civil  government,  much  more  is  it,  that  they  should 
control  the  appointment  of  those  who  are  to  be  over  them  in 
the  Lord.  It  is  a  serious  objection  to  this  system  that  it  in- 
terfered with  this  religious  privilege.  The  clergy  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  bishop ;  and  the  bishop  again,  was  elected  by 
the  clergy.  The  intervention  of  the  people  was  often  a  mere 
form,  and  even  the  form  itself  was  finally  discontinued.  A 
ministry  imposed  in  this  manner  upon  a  people,  must  of  ne- 
cessity be  coldly  received  and  comparatively  barren  in  its  re- 
sults. This  topic  opens  a  fruitful  subject  of  remark,  but  it 
has  already  come  under  consideration,  and  we  submit  it 
without  further  notice  to  the  reflections  of  the  reader. 

(c)  The  tendency  of  this  form  of  government  was  to  ren- 
der the  laity  indifferent  to  the  religious  interests  of  the 
church. 

8  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  281.  Comp.  Pertscb,  Kirch.  Hist.  sec.  11. 
c.  9. 


288  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

It  left  them  no  part  in  administering  the  concerns  of  the 
church ;  and  the  consequence  seems  inevitable,  that  they 
would  do  little  for  the  promotion  of  its  purity.  The  moral 
obligation  rested,  indeed,  upon  them,  but  they  naturally,  and 
almost  necessarily,  became  in  a  great  measure  insensible  to  it, 
having  little  opportunity  to  act  directly  in  the  fulfilment  of  their 
duty.  If  scandals  abounded,  it  belonged  not  to  them  to  re- 
move them.  If  a  case  of  discipline  occurred,  its  management 
began  and  ended  vi^ith  the  clergy.  Everything  tended  to  sepa- 
rate the  laity  from  the  care  of  the  church ;  and  practically  to  in- 
fluence them  to  neglect  the  duty  of  watching  and  striving  to- 
gether for  the  maintenance  of  practical  godliness  among  all 
its  members.  Their  religious  and  covenant  obligations,  if  ac- 
knowledged, pressed  not  upon  them  with  the  interest  of  an  ur- 
gent and  present  duty.  Such  also  was  the  severity  of  the  pe- 
nalties which  the  system  of  penance  inflicted  that,  by  mu- 
tual consent,  they  connived  at  the  oflences  of  the  church, 
and  concealed  them,  to  prevent  the  bishops  from  exercising 
their  authority  in  this  way ;  and  thus  the  discipline  of  the 
church  came  to  be  neglected. 

(/)  The  tendency  of  the  system  was  to  sunder  the  private 
members  of  the  church  from  each  other,  and  to  interfere  with 
their  mutual  fellowship  and  watchfulness. 

The  connection  of  each  member  of  the  church  was,  at  its 
commencement,  a  transaction  between  him  and  his  bishop  or 
presbyter.  The  ordinary  members  of  the  church,  having  no 
agency  in  the  transaction,  could  have  little  oneness  of  feeling 
or  union  of  spirit,  with  those  who  were,  from  time  to  time, 
enrolled  on  the  records  of  the  church.  They  were  received 
to  the  ordinances  of  the  church,  rather  than  to  the  fellowship, 
the  confidence  and  affection  of  brethren,  one  with  them  in 
heart,  in  sympathy  and  Christian  love.  The  estrangement 
under  such  circumstances  is  mutual.  Nor  is  it  easy  to  see 
how  there  could  be  that  blending  of  spirit  and  flow  of  love 
among  all  the  members,  and  that  mutual  watchfulness  for 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  ^SSB 

each  other's  welfare,  which  Christ  designed  as  one  of  the 
richest  privileges  of  Christian  fellowship. 

This  mutual  estrangement,  and  the  general  neglect  of 
Christian  watchfulness  and  discipline  which  dishonored  the 
church  at  this  time,  are  forcibly  exhibited  by  Eusebius,  who 
lived  in  the  age  now  under  consideration ;  he  says, — "  After 
Christianity  through  too  much  liberty  was  changed  into  lax- 
ness  and  sloth — then  began  men  to  envy  and  revile  one  an- 
other ;  and  to  wound  one  another  as  if  with  arms  and  spears 
in  actual  warfare.  Then  bishop  arose  against  bishop,  and 
church  against  church.  Great  tumult  prevailed,  and  hypo- 
crisy and  dissimulation  were  carried  to  the  highest  pitch.  And 
then  began  the  divine  vengeance,  as  is  usual,  to  visit  us ;  and' 
such  was  the  condition  of  the  church  that  the  most  part  came 
not  freely  together."^ 

"  As  things  now  are,"  says  Chrysostom,  "  all  is  corrupted' 
and  lost.  The  church  is  little  else  than  a  stall  for  cattle,  or 
a  fold  for  camels  and  asses ;  and  when  I  go  out  in  search  of 
sheep  I  find  none.  All  are  rampant  and  refractory  as  herds 
of  horses  and  wild  asses;  everything  is  filled  with  their 
abounding  corruptions."!"  Similar  sentiments  occur  abun- 
dantly in  the  writers  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  and  in 
the  ages  following. 

(g)  This  system  was  a  gross  infringement  on  the  right  of 
private  judgment  in  religion. 

It  was  a  law  strictly  enforced  that  every  layman  should  be- 
lieve blindly,  without  inquiry,  without  evidence,  all  that  the 
church,  represented  by  the  bishop  in  synod,  should  prescribe. 
The  evidence  he  was  not  competent  to  examine.  Here  is 
the  origin  of  that  papal  policy  which  denies  the  Bible  to 
the  laity,  and  the  pattern  of  th?Lt  " prudent  reserve"  which 
Puseyism  inculcates  in  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  common 
people.     The  exercise  of  one's  private  judgment,  leading  him. 

»  Eccl.  Hist.S.c.  1. 

w  Chrysostom,  Horn.  89,  in  Math.  Vol.  VII.  p.  830. 
25 


290  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

to  dissent  from  the  prescribed  articles,  was  not  only  regarded 
as  a  heinous  sin,  but  as  a  violation  of  the  law  of  the  state, 
punishable  with  severe  penalties. *i 

"In  endeavoring  by  the  secular  arm,  to  compel  all  the 
Christians  to  entertain  the  same  speculative  opinions,  on  the 
questions  then  debated,  the  sovereigns  at  once  turned  free 
discussions  into  controversy  and  strife.  They  inflamed  in- 
stead of  extinguishing  party  spirit.  They  formally  divided 
the  church  into  sects.  They  entailed  the  disputes  of  their 
own  times,  as  an  inheritance  of  sorrow  to  posterity,  and  wrote 
Intolerance  over  the  portal  of  the  house  of  God. "^2 

2.  Results  of  the  metropolitan  government  upon  the  clergy. 

The  clergy,  under  this  system,  appear  in  many  respects  in 
strong  contrast  with  the  ministry  of  the  apostolical  and  primi- 
tive churches. 

(a)  Their  grades  of  office  are  greatly  multiplied.  Instead 
of  two  classes,  of  ecclesiastical  officers,  as  the  ordinary  minis- 
ters of  the  church,  there  are  now  many,  in  different  degrees 
of  rank,  defined  with  the  precision  and  guarded  with  the  cau- 
tion almost  of  military  or  naval  discipline.  The  increase  of 
the  churches  would,  of  necessity,  require  a  corresponding  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  its  ministers.  So  that  even  in  the 
second  century,  there  were  Christian  churches  which  had 
twenty  or  thirty  presbyters  and  sometimes  as  many  deacons.^3 
This  latter  class,  however,  was  more  generally  limited  to  the 
number  of  seven. ^^  But  we  have  now  several  entirely  new 
classes  of  officers  in  the  church,  sub-deacons,  acolyths,  read- 
ers, exorcists,  door-keepers,  etc.     To  these  were  subsequently 

"  Sozomen,  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  7.  c.  6.  Codex  Theodosian,  L,  16. 
tit.  3. 1.  2. 

^2  Rev.  Thomas  Hardy,  cited  in  Dr.  Brown's  Law  of  Christ,  re- 
specting civil  obedience,  p.  512. 

1^  Christ.  Antiq.  Art.  Deacons,  chap.  3.  §  10.  p.  107  seq. 

^4  The  church  at  Rome  under  Cornelius,  A.  D.  250,  had  46  presby- 
ters, 7  deacons,  7  sub-deacons,  42  clerks,  besides  52  exorcists,  read- 
ers, janitors,  etc.     Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  6.  c.  43. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  291 

added  many  others,  advocates^  ovvdty.01,  apocrisiarii,  cimeli- 
archs,  custudes,  rnansionarii ,  notorii,  oiconomoi,  syncelli,  etc., 
etc.  The  specific  duties  of  these  several  officers  are  briefly 
stated  in  the  author's  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,i5 
and  more  at  length  in  the  larger  works  of  Bingham,  Augusti, 
Siegel  and  Boehmer.  These  new  offices,  some  of  which 
were  merely  titular,  had  their  origin,  not  in  the  exigencies  of 
the  church,  but  from  other  causes,  which  indicate  still  fur- 
ther changes  in  the  ministry  and  the  existing  government, 
that  remain  to  be  mentioned.  To  one  of  these,  allusion  has 
already  been  made,  but  it  requires  a  more  specific  considera- 
tion. 

(6)  The  distinctions  between  the  different  orders  of  the 
clergy  are  drawn  with  great  care,  and  cautiously  guarded. 

The  councils  of  the  period  abound  with  canons  defining 
the  boundaries  of  the  several  grades  of  the  clergy.  Hence- 
forward history  is  especially  employed  in  describing  their  er- 
rors and  disputes.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  A.  D.  360,  in  view 
of  these  ambitious  contentions,  exclaims,  "How  I  wish  there 
had  been  no  precedence,  no  priority  of  place,  no  authorita- 
tive dictatorship,  that  we  might  be  distinguished  by  virtue 
alone.  But  now  this  right  hand,  and  left  hand,  and  middle, 
and  higher  and  lower,  this  going  before  and  going  in  com- 
pany, have  produced  to  us  much  unprofitable  affliction, — 
brought  many  into  a  snare,  and  thrust  them  out  among  the 
herd  of  the  goats;  and  these,  not  only  of  the  inferior  order, 
but  even  of  the  shepherds,  who,  though  masters  in  Israel, 
have  not  known  these  things."i6  "  I  am  worn  out — with  con- 
tending against  the  envy  of  the  holy  bishops;  disturbing  the 
public  peace  by  their  contentions,  and  subordinating  the 
Christian  faith  to  their  own  private  interests.".  ..."  If  I  must 
write  the  whole  truth,  I  am  determined  to  absent  myself  from 
all  assemblies  of  the  bishops ;  for  I  have  never  seen  a  happy  re- 
sult of  any  councils,  nor  any  that  did  not  occasion  an  increase 

'»  Chapter  IV.  pp.  119—130.  '«  Oral.  28.  Vol.  I.  p.  484. 


292  THE  PRIMITIVE   CHDRCH. 

of  evils,  rather  than  a  reformation  of  them  by  reason  of  these 
pertinacious  contentions,  and  this  vehement  thirst  for  power, 
such  as  no  words  can  express."  •"' 

(c)  The  clergy  manifest  a  strong  party  feeling. 

There  is  an  esprit  du  corps,  which  separates  them  in  in- 
terest and  feeling  from  the  lower  orders  of  officers  and  from 
the  private  members  of  the  church.  They  have  become  one 
party,  and  the  church  another ;  each  with  their  separate  in- 
terests. And  these,  too  often,  are  contrary,  the  one  to  the 
other.  This  spirit  manifested  itself  particularly  in  their  sy- 
nods, where  the  bishops  sought  to  depress  as  much  as  possible 
the  other  orders  of  the  clergy.  Even  when  they  had  occa- 
sion to  inflict  censure  upon  one  of  their  own  number,  the  hie- 
rarchy never  forgot  the  interests  of  their  order,  in  respect  to 
the  other,  i^  On  the  other  hand,  many  rules  were  prescribed 
regulating  the  relative  rank  of  the  presbyters,  deacons  and 
subordinate  officers;  and  the  violation  of  these  rules  was 
punished  with  increasing  frequency  and  severity.  For  proof 
of  this,  reference  may  be  had  to  the  councils  of  Elvira,  Neo- 
caesarea  and  Nice.^^ 

"  They  (the  bishops)  had  the  means  of  carrying  any  mea- 
sure for  their  own  advantage ;  and,  while  they  continued 
united,  it  was  not  easy  for  a  whole  church,  even,  and  much 
more  for  a  single  individual  of  the  clergy,  or  of  the  laity,  to 
oppose  them.  Even  if  a  whole  church  came  into  collision 
with  their  bishop,  they  must  submit  to  the  decision  of  the 
provincial  synod,  of  the  metropolitan,  and  also  of  his  fellow- 
bishops.  The  danger  was,  that  these  all,  and  even  the 
churches  of  the  province,  would  agree  in  a  coalition  against 
the  party  who  began  the  prosecution ;  so  that,  in  the  end, 

'7  Ep.  Philagrio,  65.  al.  59.  p.  823,  and  Ep.  Procopio,  55.  al.  42.  p. 
814. 

^^  Cone.  Antioch.  c.  1.  Synod.  Gangr.  c.  7,  8.  Cone.  Chalcedon, 
c.  8.     Cone.  Const,  c.  6. 

>9  Comp.  Cone.  Laodic.  q.  20,  42,  56, 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT. 

they  would  be  excluded  from  the  bonds  of  Christian  fellow- 
ship. Who  can  suppose  that  the  bishops  could  be  men,  and 
not  act,  in  such  circumstances,  for  the  interests  of  their 
order  ?"20 

Is  it  at  all  easier  now  for  a  layman  to  oppose  successfully 
the  will  of  the  bishop?  Is  not  his  authority  as  absolute  now 
as  then,  and  his  will  as  certainly  carried  into  effect  ?  Let 
the  records  of  the  late  convention  at  New  York  be  consulted 
for  a  reply. 

(d)  Under  this  system,  strong  temptations  are  presented  to 
the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy,  to  become  the  sycophants  of 
the  higher  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  interests. 

The  inevitable  consequence  of  entrusting  the  offices  of  the 
church  to  the  arbitrary  control  of  the  bishops,  is  to  surround 
them  with  a  crowd  of  parasites  eager  to  secure  their  favor. 

^'  They  jflatter  the  rulers,  they  affectionately  salute  the  in- 
fluential, they  carefully  wait  upon  the  rich  ;  the  glory  of  God 
they  disregard  ;  his  worship  they  defile,  religion  they  profane, 
Christian  love  they  destroy.  Their  ambition  is  insatiable ; 
they  are  ever  striving  after  honor  and  fame.  They  aspire  to 
be  high  in  office ;  and,  to  accomplish  this  end,  spare  not  to 
excite  the  worst  of  enmities  among  the  best  of  friends."2i 
This  is  said  by  a  Roman  bishop,  of  his  own  clergy ;  and  Gre- 
gory Nazianzen,  at  an  earlier  period,  charges  them  with 
flattering  the  great  and  crouching  to  them  in  every  way. 
"  But  when  they  had  others  in  their  power,  then  were  they 
more  savage  than  lions.  They  joined  one  party  or  another 
for  the  slightest  reasons,  like  the  polypus  that  can  assume  any 
color  according  to  circumstances."22  At  another  time  he 
describes  them  as  "  seducing  flatterers,  flexible  as  a  bough, 

«>  Planck,  Gesell.  Verfass.  1.  S.  179.  Comp.  p.  129.  Ziegler's 
Versuch.  etc.  S.  56,  57. 

2*  Leo  VII.  Epist.  ad  Episc.  Bavar.  ap.  Aventinum  et  in  Catal. 
Test.  Vet.   p.  209.      Cited  in  Arnold's  W^ahre  Abbildung,  S.  919. 

22  Objurgat.  in  cler.     Cited  in  Wahre  Abbildung,  S.  918. 

25* 


'^' 


294  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

savage  as  a  lion  to  the  weak,  cringing  as  a  dog  to  the  power- 
ful, who  knock  at  the  doors,  not  of  the  learned,  but  of  the 
great,  and  value  highest,  not  what  is  useful,  but  what  is  pleas- 
ing to  others."23 

"  Wherever,"  says  Robert  Hall,  "  religion  is  established  by 
law,  with  splendid  emoluments  and  dignities  annexed  to  its 
profession,  the  clergy,  who  are  candidates  for  these  distinc- 
tions, will  ever  be  prone  to  exalt  the  prerogative,  not  only  in 
•order  to  strengthen  the  arm  on  which  they  lean,  but  that  they 
may  the  more  successfully  ingratiate  themselves  in  the  favor  of 
the  prince,  by  flattering  those  ambitious  views  and  passions 
which  are  too  readily  entertained  by  persons  possessed  of 
supreme  power.  The  boasted  alliance  between  church  and 
state,  on  which  so  many  encomiums  have  been  lavished, 
seems  to  have  been  little  more  than  a  compact  between  the 
priest  and  the  magistrate  to  betray  the  liberties  of  mankind, 
both  civil  and  religious.  To  this  the  clergy  on  their  part  at 
Jeast  have  continued  steady,  shunning  inquiry,  fearful  of 
change,  blind  to  the  corruptions  of  government,  skilful  to  dis' 
cern  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  eager  to  improve  every  oppor- 
tunity, and  to  employ  all  their  art  and  eloquence  to  extend  the 
prerogative  and  smooth  the  approaches  of  arbitrary  power." 

{e)  It  is  an  objectionable  feature  of  this  system,  that  the 
clergy  are  entrusted  with  the  exercise  of  both  ecclesiastical 
and  civil  powers. 

Constantine  gave  to  the  bishops  the  right  of  deciding  in 
secular  matters,  making  them  the  highest  court  of  judicature, 
and  ordering  that  their  judgment  should  be  final  and  decisive 
as  that  of  the  emperor  himself,^^  whose  officers  were  accord- 
ingly required  to  execute  these  decisions.^s 

23  De  Episcopis,  p.  1031.  Ed.  Basil.  1571.  Ed.  Colon.  1590.  Vol. 
II.  p.  304. 

^  KQtLTOj  rijg  Twv  alkojv  Sr/taoToiv  ohavsl  naQoi  rov  ^aaiXtojg  i^~ 

^  Sozomen,  Lib.  1.  c.  29.  Com.  Valesius,  in  Euseb.  De  Vit.  Const. 
c.  27. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  295 

To  what  height  the  authority  of  the  clergy  finally  rose  in 
the  government  of  the  state  we  need  not  say.  With  the  un- 
ion of  church  and  state  under  Constantine,  the  way  was  open- 
ed for  the  exercise  of  clerical  influence  in  niany  ways,  over 
the  secular  interests  of  both.  Enough  was  done  to  excite  in 
the  bishops  an  ambition  for  worldly  power,  and  scope  suffi- 
cient was  given  for  the  play  of  the  most  dangerous  passions. 
The  details  we  must  leave  the  reader  to  pursue  in  the  histo- 
ries of  the  church.  Siegel  has  mentioned  one  crafty  device, 
which  sufficiently  discovers  the  aspirations  of  prelatical  ambi- 
tion after  political  power.  This  was  the  rule  which  required 
"  the  subordinate  clergy  to  obtain  permission  from  the  me- 
tropolitan to  pay  their  visits  to  the  emperor."  The  design 
of  this  expedient  was  manifest — to  overrule  the  appeals  of 
the  inferior  clergy  to  Caesar,  by  hindering  them  in  their  ap- 
proaches to  him.  In  short,  the  policy  of  the  bishops  was  to 
embarrass  others  as  much  as  possible,  in  making  appeal  to 
the  civil  authority,  while  they  themselves  employed  it  to  ac- 
complish their  own  party  purposes.  *'  The  bishop,  for  exam- 
ple, has  some  measure  to  carry,  which  he  foresees  will  be  op- 
posed by  others.  He  goes,  therefore,  to  the  palace  and  ob- 
tains from  the  emperor  a  decree  in  his  own  name,  formed 
agreeably  to  the  will  of  the  bishops.  At  another  time,  a  new 
doctrine  is  to  be  put  forth  under  the  sanction  of  the  whole 
church,  as  an  article  of  faith.  From  this  others  dissent,  and 
declare  it  to  be  erroneous.  The  bishop  now  makes  interest 
at  the  palace,  either  to  have  a  synod  called  by  authority  of 
the  emperor  to  decide  the  point,  or  a  decree  comes  direct 
from  the  court,  declaring  the  article  in  question  orthodox^  and 
denouncing  all  who  dissent  from  it  as  heretics.  More  fre- 
quently a  presbyter  would  be  a  bishop,  or  a  bishop  of  a  small 
and  feeble  church  would  be  promoted  to  a  higher  and  richer. 
But  seeing  that  this  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things  cannot 
be  accomplished,  he  applies  again  to  the  palace,  and  has  the 
address  to  obtain  a  recommendation,  which  has  all  the  form 


296  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

of  a  command,  or  else  an  explicit  decree,  by  virtue  of  which 
without  further  trouble,  he  is  advanced  to  his  desired  place. 

"  Hundreds  of  cases  to  this  effect  occur  in  the  history  of 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  And  all  this  as  any  one  must 
see,  was  entirely  natural,  according  to  the  ordinary  course  of 
things.  When  so  often  availing  themselves  of  this  right  of  ap- 
peal to  the  emperors  as  they  did,  could  the  bishops  fail  to  re- 
member that  they  could  in  this  way,  not  only  serve  the  church, 
but  promote  also  their  own  convenience,  and  the  furtherance 
of  their  designs  ?"26 

(/)  A  secular  and  mercenary  spirit  now  dishonors  the 
clergy. 

The  history  of  the  times  abounds  with  examples  of  those 
who  neglected  or  forsook  their  sacred  duties,  to  engage  in  se- 
cular pursuits  for  mercenary  purposes.  So  prevalent  was 
this  spirit  among  the  clergy,  that  the  council  of  Eliberis, 
A.  D.  305,  saw  reason  to  rebuke  and  restrain  it,  by  requir- 
ing them,  if  they  must  engage  in  trade,  to  confine  their  op- 
erations to  their  own  province.27 

"  The  church  that  before  by  insensible  degrees  welked 
and  impaired,  now  with  large  steps  went  down  hill  decaying; 
at  this  time  Antichrist  began  first  to  put  forth  his  horn,  and 
that  saying  was  common,  that  former  times  had  wooden  chal- 
ices and  golden  priests ;  but  they,  golden  chalices  and  wood- 
en priests.  '  Formerly,'  says  Sulpitius,  speaking  of  these 
times,  '  martyrdom  by  glorious  death  was  sought  more  greedi- 
ly than  now  bishoprics  by  vile  ambition  are  hunted  after,'  and 
in  another  place,  '  they  gape  after  possessions,  they  tend  lands 
and  livings,  they  hoard  up  their  gold,  they  buy  and  sell;  and 
if  there  be  any  that  neither  possess  money  nor  traffic,  what  is 

2«  Planck,  Gesell.  Verfass.  1.  S.  269—271.  Comp.  S.  453,  454. 
Cone.  Antioch,  c.  11,  12. 

27  Cone.  Eliberis,  c.  4.  Comp.  Cone.  Aurel.  3.  c.  27.  Basil  the 
Great  complains  that  some  of  the  bishops  administered  ordination  for 
hire, — making  even  this  "grace"  an  article  of  merchandize.  A 
practice  which  he  justly  condemns. — £p.  53.  Vol.  III.  p.  147. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  297 

worse,  they  sit  still  and  accept  gifts,  and  prostitute  every  en- 
dowment of  grace,  every  holy  thing  to  venal  purposes.'  Thus 
he  concludes  ;  *  all  things  went  to  rack  by  the  faction,  wilful- 
ness and  avarice  of  the  bishops  ;  and  by  this  means  God's  peo- 
ple and  every  good  man  was  held  in  scorn  and  derision.'  "28 
(g)  The  disposition  of  the  bishops  to  torture  and  pervert 
the  language  of  Scripture  to  give  importance  to  their  order, 
is  worthy  of  particular  notice. 

Their  reference  to  the  Jewish  priesthood,  and  the  analo- 
gies which  they  sought  from  the  Mosaic  economy  to  justify 
their  own  ecclesiastical  polity,  have  been  already  mentioned. 
From  the  same  source  sprang  the  conceit  of  the  divine  right 
of  Episcopacy,  of  the  apostolical  succession,  and  of  the  va- 
lidity and  necessity  of  Episcopal  ordination.  On  these 
topics  another  shall  speak  whose  sentiments  have  been  so 
often  cited,  and  who  has  written  on  the  constitution  of  the 
church  more  at  length  and  with  greater  ability  than  any 
other  historian.  After  adverting  to  their  reference  to  the 
Jewish  priesthood,  to  the  transfer  of  the  names  of  that  priest- 
hood to  the  clergy  of  the  Christian  church,  and  to  the  ana- 
logies which  were  sought  out  between  the  chief  priests  of 
the  temple,  and  the  bishops  of  the  church,  Planck  proceeds 
to  say  :  "  It  is  easy  to  see,  and  was  foreseen,  what  advan- 
tages they  might  gain  if  they  could  once  bring  this  notion  into 
circulation — that  the  bishops  and  presbyters  were  set  apart  not 
by  the  church,  but  hy  God  himself;^ — that  they  held  their 
office,  and  the  rights  of  their  office,  from  God  and  not  from  the 
church, — that  they  were  not  the  servants  of  the  church,  but 
ordained  of  God  to  be  its  overseers,  and  appointed  by  him  to  be 
the  guardians  of  its  sanctity, — that  the  service  of  the  ministry 
for  this  new  religion  must  be  performed  altogether  by  them, 
and  by  their  body, — and  therefore,  that  they  must  of  neces- 
sity constitute  themselves  a  distinct  order,  and  form  a  sepa- 
ls Milton's  Prose  Works,  Vol.  1.  p.  22. 

^  It  was   a  favorite   sentiment  of  Cyprian,  that  God  makes  the 
priests.     Deus  qui  sacerdotes  facit. — Epist.  69,  52. 


298  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

rate  caste  in  the  church ; — all  this  was  clearly  manifest  to 
their  minds;  and,  accordingly,  they  sought  out  with  all  dili- 
gence, the  analogies  from  which  all  these  consequences  could 
so  easily  be  drawn. 

"  In  view  of  the  obvious  advantages  which  the  bishops 
would  gain  from  the  prevalence  of  such  sentiments,  one  is 
not  surprised  that  Cyprian  sought  so  much  to  propagate  them 
in  his  day.  Having,  therefore,  so  much  interest  in  the  pro- 
mulgation of  these  sentiments,  from  which  proceeded,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  the  divine  right  of  their  office,  the 
bishops  found  means  more  fully  to  establish  them  by  claim- 
ing to  be  the  successors  of  the  apostles.  They  accordingly 
began  now,  for  the  first  time,  to  promulgate,  with  a  specific 
intent,  this  doctrine  of  the  apostolical  succession.  The 
bishops  had,  indeed,  from  the  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury ,30  appropriated  to  themselves  the  title  of  the  successors 
of  the  apostles,  but  it  occurred  to  no  one,  and  least  of  all  to 
them,  that  they  had  of  right  inherited  the  authority  of  the 
apostles,  and  were  instated  in  all  their  rights.  These  claims, 
however,  were  not  only  put  forth  before  the  middle  of  the 
third  century  as  an  acknowledged  right,  but  the  bishops  care- 
fully availed  themselves  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  an 
inheritance  of  the  apostolical  succession. 

"  One  of  the  advantages  claimed  was  the  exclusive  right 
of  ordination.  This  favorite  doctrine  has  ever  since  held  a 
conspicuous  place  among  their  rights  in  the  church.  In- 
deed, it  has  been  the  ruling  sentiment  of  the  Episcopal  hie- 
rarchy,— the  foundation  of  this  entire  theory  of  an  ecclesias- 
tical ministry.     The  church  were  taught  to  believe  that  the 

^  This  author  supposes  the  distinction  between  bishop  and  presby- 
ter to  have  prevailed  from  the  beginning — a  distinction,  however, 
appropriately  implying  no  official  superiority.  "  The  bishop  perhaps 
regarded  himself  as  somewhat  different  from  a  presbyter,  but  not  at 
all  superior  to  him.  He  thought  himself  more  than  a  presbyter,  only 
inasmuch  as  he  had  more  to  do  than  a  presbyter." — Gesell.  Verfass. 
Bd.  1.  S.  31. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  299 

right  in  question  was  borrowed  from  the  ancient  Jews ;  and 
that  the  apostles,  by  means  of  it,  had  originally  inducted 
bishops  and  presbyters  into  office.si  They  were  taught  that 
the  laying  on  of  hands  was,  not  merely  a  symbolical  rite, 
but  that  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  religious  act,  having  in  it- 
self a  certain  efficacy,  by  which  the  individual  upon  whom 
it  had  been  rightly  performed  was  not  only  invested  with  all 
the  rights  of  the  office,  but  was  also  rendered  competent  to 
impart  to  others  the  same  clerical  grace.  In  a  word,  a  mys- 
terious and  supernatural  power  was  ascribed  to  this  laying 
on  of  hands,  by  which  the  Holy  Spirit  was  transmitted  to  the 
person  who  received  ordination  from  them ;  just  as  the  apos- 
tles, by  the  laying  on  of  their  hands,  communicated  the  gift 
of  working  miracles.     Acts  8  :  17.  10  :  47. 

"  When  once  the  bishops  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  the 
successors  of  the  apostles,  they  could  easily  lay  claim  also  to 
the  prerogatives  and  gifts  of  the  apostles.  Hence  the  doc- 
trine that  none  but  the  bishops  could  administer  a  valid  or- 
dination ;  for  they,  by  being  constituted  the  successors  of 
the  apostles,  had  alone  the  power,  by  the  laying  on  of  the 
hands,  to  impart  a  similar  gift,  with  ability  to  transmit  it  un- 
impaired to  others.  In  order  more  deeply  to  impress  the  new 
doctrine  upon  the  minds  of  the  people,  or  to  inspire  them 
with  a  firmer  belief  in  it,  they  took  care  also  to  administer 
the  right  of  ordination  with  the  appearance  of  greater  for- 
mality and  solemnity.  This,  in  all  probability,  was  the  true 
reason  for  the  custom  of  saying,  in  the  laying  on  of  the* 
hands,  Accipe  Sanctum  Spiritum,  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ! 

"  In  the  same  connection  came  also  the  suggestion,  that 
it  was  important,  not  merely  for  the  bishops,  but  for  the  pres- 
byters and  deacons  also  to  receive  ordinatioD.32     They  were 

^'  Poteslas  Apostolis  data  est  .  .  .  et  episcopis,  qui  eis  vicaria  or- 
dinatione  successerunt. — Cyprian^  Ep.  75. 

^^  Cyprian  at  least  admonished  the  deacons  to  remember  that  God 
appointed  the  apostles,  i.  e.,  the  bishops,  but  the  deacons   were  con- 


300  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

accordingly  ordained.  The  subordinate  orders  who  had 
lately  been  instituted  in  the  clergy,  received  also  a  kind  of 
ordination.  For,  so  far  as  the  people  could  be  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  the  mysterious  influence  of  this  ceremony, 
they  would  regard  him  who  had  received  the  ordinance  as 
another  being,  no  longer  on  an  equality  with  them ;  and  so 
the  great  end  designed  by  all  these  things  would  be  accom- 
plished— that  of  impressing  more  deeply  upon  the  minds  of 
the  people  that  the  clergy  are  a  peculiar  class  of  persons ^  set 
apart  by  God  himself  as  a  distinct  order  in  the  church."^^ 

{h)  The  clergy  manifest  an  intolerant,  persecuting  spirit. 

It  is  the  legitimate  effect  of  such  pretensions  as  have  been 
specified  in  the  foregoing  article.  Dissent  from  their  doc- 
trines becomes  a  denial  of  God's  truth  ;  disobedience  to  their 
authority,  rebellion  against  God ;  and  heresy,  the  most  hein- 
ous of  sins.  Accordingly,  the  great  strife  now  is  to  guard 
against  the  spread  of  heretical  opinions.  He  who  ventures 
to  promulgate  them,  fails  not  to  draw  down  upon  himself  the 
severest  penalties  that  can  be  inflicted  by  prelatical  power. 
The  history  of  the  church,  from  the  fourth  century,  down- 
ward, is  little  else  than  a  tedious  recital  of  endless  discussions 
of  forms  of  expression  and  of  doctrines,  by  which  the  church 
was  perpetually  agitated,  together  with  a  humiliating  exhi- 
bition of  the  bigotry  and  fiery  zeal  with  which  the  charge  of 
heresy  was  prosecuted.  Many,  according  to  Epiphanius, 
were  expelled  from  the  church  for  a  single  word  or  two,  which 
Inight  seem  to  be  contrary  to  the  faith. 34     The  charges  were 

stituted  the  ministers  of  the  church  by  the  apostles.  Apostolos,  id 
est  episcopos  Dominus  elegit ;  Diaconos  autem  apostoli  sibi  constitu- 
erunt  ministros. — Ep.  9. 

a3  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  157—163. 

3-*  Epist.  ad  Johan.  Hieros.  Vol.  II.  Op.  p.  314.  The  least  devia- 
tion from  the  prescribed  formularies  and  creeds  of  the  church  was 
heresy,  according  to  the  famous  law  of  Arcadius,  A.  D.  395.  Hae- 
ritici  sunt  qui  vel  levi  argumento  a  ju  icio  catholicae  r«^  ioicn's  et  tra- 
mite  detecti  fuerint  deviare, — Cod.  Theodos.  L.  16.  tit.  V.  de  Haeret. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  301 

frequently  groundless,  often  contemptible ;  and  so  multifari- 
ous, withal,  that  it  might  be  difficult  to  say  what  in  human 
conduct  or  belief  has  not  been  branded  as  heresy.  For  a 
priest  to  appear  in  worship  without  his  surplice  was  heresy.35 
To  fast  on  Saturday,  or  Sunday,  "  heresy,  and  a  damnable 
thing."36  And  yet  this  indefinite,  indescribable  sin,  called' 
heresy,  was  enough,  not  only  to  expel  one  from  the  church 
but  to  drive  him  into  exile  from  his  kindred  and  his  country, 
the  victim  of  relentless  intolerance.  This  zeal  for  truth  was 
quickened,  also,  by  that  avarice  which  seized  upon  his  house, 
his  lands,  his  property  of  every  description,  and  confiscated 
it  for  the  benefit,  ostensibly,  of  the  church,  but  really,  as  a 
gratuity  to  the  pious  zeal  of  his  clerical  persecutors.37 
When  this  failed  to  reach  him,  the  arm  and  the  sword  of 
civil  justice  were  invoked  against  him.  Thus  was  he  per- 
secuted, even  unto  death,  by  the  exterminating  zeal  of  pre- 
latical  bigotry.  The  reader  will  find  in  the  Codex  of  Theo- 
dosius  enough  to  verify  all,  and  much  more  than  all,  that  has 
been  said  on  this  subject ;  or  in  the  ancient  history  of  So- 
crates, to  say  nothing  of  the  modern  histories  of  Neander, 
and  others. 

And  yet,  under  this  treatment,  as  might  have  been  fore- 
seen, heresies  came  up  into  the  church  like  the  frogs  of 
Egypt.  Epiphanius,  who,  in  the  fourth  century,  wrote  sev- 
eral books  against  heresies,  announces  no  less  than  eighty 
distinct  kinds  of  heresy.  But  the  most  obnoxious  feature 
of  this  rage  against  heresy,  is,  that  it  often  became  only  a 
persecuting  intolerance  of  the  pious,  whose  religious  life  re- 
buked the  godless  ministry  that  was  over  them.  "  One  may 
see,"  says  Jerome,  **  in  most  of  the  cities,  bishops  and  pres- 

35  Apoph.  Pat.  apud  Cotelerium,  T.  1.  Mon.  Graec.  p.  684. 

^  Nomo  Canon,  Gr.  apud  eundem,  c.  129, 

37  Cod.  Theodos.  L.  16.  tit.  5,  6,  43,  52,  57.    A  full  statement  of 
these  persecutions  is  given  in  Vol.  VI.  p.  118.     Leipsic,  1743.     So- 
crat.  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  7.  c.  7. 
26 


302  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

byters,  who,  when  they  perceive  the  laity  to  seek  the  society 
of  the  pious,  and  hospitably  to  entertain  them,  immediately 
become  jealous,  and  murmur  against  them,  lay  them  under 
bans,  and  thrust  them  out  of  the  church  ;  so  that  one  can  do 
no  more  than  what  the  bishop  or  overseer  does.  But  to  live 
a  virtuous  life  is  sure  to  provoke  the  displeasure  of  these 
priests ;  so  unmerciful  are  they  towards  these  poor  men,  and 
seize  them  by  the  neck,  as  if  they  would  draw  them  away 
from  all  that  is  good,  and  harass  them  with  all  manner  of 
persecutions.  "38 

3.  State  of  religion  under  the  hierarchy. 

The  preceding  remarks  have  been  made,  with  reference, 
particularly,  to  the  mutual  relations  of  the  clergy  and  the 
laity  under  this  government,  and  the  practical  effects  of  it 
upon  them  both.  The  inquiry  now  is,  in  regard  to  their  re- 
ligious character,  and  the  state  of  morals  and  religion  gen- 
erally in  the  church.  One  would  gladly  pass  in  silence  over 
this  view  of  the  subject.  We  surely  have  no  pleasure  in 
contemplating  the  deformities  of  the  Christian  character,  in 
any  circumstances;  much  less  in  reciting  the  general  de- 
generacy of  the  church  in  this  age,  and  the  shocking  im- 
moralities which  so  frequently  dishonored  the  lives  of  all 
classes,  both  of  the  clergy  and  the  people.  One  might  al- 
most wish,  that,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  a  veil,  even  of  deeper 
darkness,  had  been  spread  over  the  church,  so  that  her  de- 
formity might  be  seen  no  more.  But  it  is  seen  and  known  ; 
and  it  remains  for  us  to  pause,  not  that  we  may  exult  over 
the  fall  of  the  church,  but  that  we  may  take  warning  from 
the  example,  and  guard  against  a  similar  catastrophe. 

The  great  evil  of  this  organization  was,  that  it  opened  the 
way  for  the  introduction  of  irreligious  men  into  the  ministry, 
and  offered  many  inducements  to  them  to  enter  into  the  sacred 
service  of  the  church.  It  offered  to  the  aspiring  the  fairest 
prospect  of  preferment  to  honor,  wealth,  and  power,  both  civil 

^  Comment,  in  Epist.  1  ad  Tit. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  303 

and  ecclesiastical ;  and  the  necessary  consequence  was  a  de- 
generate ministry.  Planck,  with  great  propriety,  remarks: 
"  It  was  a  thing  of  course,  that  all  would  strive  for  admission 
into  that  order  which  was  in  the  enjoyment  of  such  wealth, 
and  power,  and  distinction."39  This  was  the  great  evil  of 
this  whole  system  of  church-government.  Hinc  illi  prima 
mall  lobes, — hence,  the  source  and  fountain  of  that  tide  of 
corruption  which  came  in  upon  the  church  like  an  over- 
whelming flood.^'^  The  instances  that  have  already  been 
mentioned,  clearly  indicate  the  degeneracy  of  the  clergy, 
which  appears  more  fully  in  the  following  particulars. 

(a)  Their  pride;  their  haughty,  supercilious,  and  ostenta- 
tious bearing. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  exalt  the  dignity  of  the  bishops. 
They  assumed  the  titles  of  priests,  high-priests,  apostles,  suc- 
cessors of  the  apostles ;  their  highness,  their  excellence,  their 
worthiness,  their  reverence,  the  enthroned,  the  height  of  the 
highest  dignity,  the  culminating  point  of  pontifical  glory; — 
these  were  the  terms  of  base  adulation  employed  to  set  forth 
the  dignity  of  these  ministers  of  Christ.^i  They  had  separ- 
ate seats  and  princely  thrones  in  the  church.  ^11  rose  to  do 
them  reverence  as  they  came  in,  and  stood  until  the  bishops 
were  seated,  and  often  the  people  were  required  to  stand  m 
the  presence  of  the  bishops.'*^     They  were  decked  out  in  gor- 

39  Gesell.  Verfass.  1.  332. 

40  Comp.  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  III.  §  25. 

^^  Pertsch,  Can.  Recht.  49.  More  at  length,  in  his  Kirch.  Hist., 
Saec.  11.  c.  3.  §  15,  16,  18. 

*2  The  following  canon  of  the  council  of  Maqon,  A.  D.  581,  dicta- 
ted, as  they  gravely  tell  us,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  sufficient  to  illus- 
trate the  artifices  of  this  kind  to  secure  the  respect  of  the  people  : 
Et  quia  ordinationi  sacerdotum  annuente  deo  congruit  de  omnibus 
disponere  et  causis  singulis  honestum  terminum  dare,  ut  per  hos  re- 
verentissimos  canones  et  praeteritorum  canonum  viror  ac  florida  ger- 
mina  maturis  fructibus  enitescant,  statuimus  ut  si  quis  saecularium 
quempiam  clericorum  honoratorum  in  itinere  obviam  habuerit,  usque 
ad  inferiorem  gradum  honoris  veneranter  sicut  condecet  Christianum 


304  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

geous  apparel,  and  even  suspended  sacred  relics  from  their 
shoulders,  to  impress  the  multitude  with  a  more  profound 
reverence  for  their  order.^^  "  Xhe  bishops,"  says  Jerome, 
A.  D.  400,  "  by  their  pride  and  their  base  deeds,  are  a  re- 
proach to  their  name.  In  the  place  of  humility  they  mani- 
fest pride,  as  though  they  had  acquired  honor  and  not  dis- 
grace ;  and  whenever  they  perceive  one  to  have  gained  an  in- 
fluence by  rightly  handling  the  word  of  God,  they  seek,  by 
detraction  to  oppose  him.  The  people  of  God  are  dispersed 
by  the  abounding  immoralities  and  heresies  of  the  day,  while 
no  good  shepherd  appears,  to  lay  down  his  life  for  the  sheep ; 
but  they  are  all  hirelings,  watching  only  for  gain  from  the 
flock,  and  when  they  see  the  wolf  coming  they  flee."44 

(6)  Their  ignorance,  and  incompetence  rightly  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  their  office. 

The  clerical  office,  and  especially  that  of  a  bishop  became 
an  object  of  covetous  desire,  for  reasons  wholly  unlike  those 
which  made  it  desirable  in  the  eyes  of  the  apostle.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  by  favoritism,  intrigue  and  cunning,  many 
found  their  way  into  office  who  were  wholly  unqualified  for  it ; 
and  the  church  was  afflicted  with  an  incompetent  and  unwor- 
thy ministry.^5     While  mere  boys,  they  were  sometimes  in- 

illi  colla  subdat,  per  cujus  ofRcia  et  obsequia  fidelissima  christianitatis 
jura  promeruit.  Et  si  quidem  ille  saecularis  equo  vehitur  clericusque 
similiter,  saecularis  galerum  de  capiie  auferat  et  clerico  sincerae  sal- 
utationis  munus  adhibeat.  Si  vero  clericus  pedes  graditur  et  saecula- 
ris vehilur  equo  subliniis,  illico  ad  terrain  defiuat  et  debitum  honorem 
praedicto  clerico  sincerae  caritatis  exhibeat,  ut  deus,  qui  vera  caritas 
est,  in  utrisque  laetetur,  et  dilectioni  suae  utrumque  adsciscat.  Qui 
vero  haec  quae  spiritu  sancto  dictnnte  sancita  sunt  transgredi  voluerit, 
ab  ecclesiae  quam  in  suis  ministris  dehonorat,  quamdiu  episcopus  illi- 
us  ecclesiae  voluerit  suspendatur. — C.  15,  Bruns,  Vol.  II.  p.  254.  The 
gradations  of  rank  which  were  observed  with  so  much  precision,  were 
made  subservient  to  the  same  end,  and  indicate  the  same  spirit.  Comp. 
Planck,  I.  p.  358—368. 

*^  Cone.  Bracar.  3.  c.  5. 

**  Lib.  2.  in  Ezech.  c.  34.  Vol.  III.  p.  943. 

<5  Cone.  Tol.  4.  c.  19, 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  305 

vested  with  the  clerical  office,  so  that  the  fourth  council  of 
Toletum,  A.  D.  633,  by  solemn  enactment,  provides  for  their 
education,  and  training  for  their  duties.46  "No  physician," 
says  Gregory  Nazianzen,  A.  D.  370,  "  finds  employment  until 
he  has  acquainted  himself  with  the  nature  of  diseases;  no  paint- 
ter,  until  he  has  learned  to  mix  colors,  and  acquired  skill  in 
the  use  of  the  pencil.  But  a  bishop  is  easily  found.  No  pre- 
paration is  requisite  for  his  office.  In  a  single  day  we  make 
one  a  priest,  and  exhort  him  to  be  wise  and  learned,  while  he 
knows  nothing;  and  brings  no  needful  qualification  for  his 
office,  but  a  desire  to  be  a  bishop.47  They  are  teachers,  while 
yet  they  have  to  learn  the  rudiments  of  religion.  Yesterday, 
impenitent,  irreligious ;  and  to-day,  priests;  old  in  vice;  in 
knowledge  young."'*8  "  They  are,  in  their  ministry,  dull ; 
in  evil  speaking,  active ;  in  study,  much  at  leisure ;  in  se- 
ductions, busy ;  in  love,  cold  ;  in  factions,  powerful ;  in  hatred 
and  enmity,  constant;  in  doctrine  wavering.  They  profess 
to  govern  the  church,  but  have  need  themselves  to  be  govern- 
ed by  others."49 

(c)  The  total  neglect  of  Christian  discipline,  and  the  gen- 
eral corruption  of  the  church,  were  the  necessary  conse- 
quences of  a  secular  ministry. 

In  this  respect,  the  state  of  the  church  under  the  metropoli- 
tan government  appears  in  melancholy  contrast  with  its  early 
purity.  "  Formerly,  the  church  of  Christ  was  distinguished 
from  the  world  by  her  piety.  Then,  the  walk  of  all,  or  of 
most  Christians  was  holy,  unlike  that  of  the  irreligious.  But 
now  are  Christians  as  base,  and,  if  possible,  even  worse  than 

*^  Nos,  et  divinae  legis,  et  conciliorum  praecepti  immemores  infan- 
tes et  pueros,  levitas  facimus  ante  legitimam  aetatem  ante  experien- 
tiam  vitae. — Cone.  ToL  4.  c.  20. 

«  Oral  20,  De  Basil.  Ed.  Colon.  1590.  p.  335. 

***  Oral.  21.  In  laud.  Athanas.  p.  378. 

49  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  A.  D.  486,  Lib.  7.  Ep.  9.  Biblioth.  Vet. 
Pat.  VI.  p.  1112.    Comp.  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christ.,  Saec.  III.  § 

ae. 

26* 


306  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

heretics  and  heathen."50  "  How  unlike  themselves  are  Chris- 
tians now,"  says  Salvianus,  A.  D.  460.  *'  IIow  fallen  from 
what  they  once  were !  when  we  might  rejoice,  and  account 
the  church  as  quite  pure,  if  it  had  only  as  many  good  as  bad 
men  in  it.  But  it  is  hard  and  sad  to  say,  that  the  church  which 
ought,  in  all  things,  to  be  well  pleasing  to  God,  does  little 
else  than  provoke  his  displeasure."5i  This  is  but  a  faint 
sketch  of  his  complaint.  Much  more  to  the  same  effect  is 
said  by  this  writer,  and  confirmed  by  others,  which  we  glad- 
ly pass  in  silence.  Enough  of  this  sad  tale  of  the  degenera- 
cy of  the  church,  of  which  the  half  has  not  been  told.  "  No 
language,"  says  Chrysostom,  "  can  describe  the  angry  con- 
tentions of  Christians,  and  the  corruption  of  morals  that  pre- 
vailed, from  the  time  of  Constantine  to  that  of  Theodosius."52 
Of  grosser  enormities  we  forbear  to  speak.  Much  that  is 
recorded  both  of  the  clergy  and  the  people,  in  the  period  now 
under  consideration,  cannot  with  propriety,  be  transferred  to 
these  pages.  Suffice  it  to  say,  there  is  evidence  sufficient  to 
show  that  a  shocking  degeneracy  of  morals  pervaded  all  class- 
es of  society.  It  began,  confessedly,  with  the  clergy, — in 
their  worldliness  and  irreligion,  their  neglect  of  duty,  their 
departure  from  the  faith,  and  corrupt  example. ^3  From  the 
time  of  Constantine,  the  tide  of  corruption,  which  had  begun 
to  set  in  upon  the  church,  became  deep  and  strong,  and 
continued  to  rise  and  swell,  until  it  well-nigh  overwhelmed 
her.  There  were  still  examples,  indeed,  of  men  high  in  office 
in  the  church,  who  nobly  strove  to  turn  back  this  flood  of  in- 
iquity; but  they  too  frequently  strove  in  vain,  as  their  lamen- 
tations over  her  degeneracy  plainly  show.     Among  her  pri- 

^  Chrysostom  Horn.  49,  in  Math.  Vol.  VI.  p.  204.  Opus  imp.  Horn, 
in  Ps.  61.  Vol  I.  p.  195. 

"  Lib.  6.  De  Gub.  Dei  in  Biblioth.  Pat.  Vet.  Vol.  VIII.  p.  362  seq, 

"  Horn.  49,  in  Math.  p.  202.     Opus  imperfectum. 

^  Chrysostom  expressly  says,  that  they  were  the  cause  of  this  de- 
generacy of  the  laity.  In  Math.  23.  Comp.  also,  Catal.  Test.  Verit. 
p.  77. 


THE  METROPOLITAN  GOVERNMENT.  307 

vate  members,  also,  there  still  remained,  no  doubt,  many 
faithful  followers  of  Christ,  who  have,  in  heaven,  their  high 
reward,  however  history  may  have  failed  to  record  the  hon- 
ored memorial  of  their  virtues. 

Wearied,  however,  with  the  oppressive  hand  of  prelatical 
power  that  was  upon  her,  and  sickened  at  the  sight  of  the 
ungodliness  which  had  come  up  into  the  church,  and  sat  en- 
throned in  her  high  places,  the  pure  spirit  of  piety  withdrew, 
in  silent  sadness,  to  the  cloistered  cell,  drew  the  curtains,  and 
reposed  in  her  secret  recesses,  through  the  long  night  of  dark- 
ness that  settled  upon  the  world. 

This  religious  declension,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  it 
should  be  well  considered,  could  not  have  come  over  the 
church  so  generally  through  the  operation  of  any  one  cause 
alone.  It  is  the  combined  result  of  various  causes.  But 
that  the  ecclesiastical  polity  that  early  supplanted  the  gov- 
ernment originally  established  by  the  apostles,  was  one  effi- 
cient cause  of  this  degeneracy,  we  cannot  doubt.  It  filled 
the  church  with  corrupt  and  unworthy  members,  by  first  giv- 
ing her  an  ignorant,  ambitious  priesthood,  equally  degene- 
rate and  corrupt. 

The  object  of  the  Christian  emperors  was  to  bring  all 
their  subjects  to  embrace  Christianity.  But  they  totally  mis- 
took the  means  by  which  this  work  was  to  be  accomplished. 
They  sought  to  do  it  by  state  patronage  ;  by  making  a  pro- 
fessed faith  in  Christ  the  passport  to  favor  and  to  power. 
To  enter  into  the  church  of  Christ,  was,  accordingly,  to  en- 
joy the  favor  and  protection  of  the  government ;  to  hold  her 
offices,  was  to  bear  rule  in  the  state.  The  consequence  was, 
that  multitudes  pressed  up  to  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  eager  to 
be  invested  with  the  robes  and  the  office  of  the  Christian 
ministry,  who  had  nothing  of  its  spirit.^ 

Such  was  the  wayward  policy,  the  fatal  mistake  of  the 

^4  Comp.  Sermon  by  Thomas  Hardy,  D.  D.  Cited  in  Dr.  Brown's 
Law  of  Christ,  pp.  511,  512. 


308  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

first  Christian  emperors.  Such  were  its  disastrous  results. 
My  kingdom,  saith  Christ,  is  not  of  this  world.  Christian- 
ity, though  mingling  freely  in  the  affairs  of  men,  like  its 
great  Author,  works  its  miracles  of  mercy  and  of  grace  by 
powers  that  are  hidden  and  divine.  It  stoops  to  no  carnal 
policy,  no  state  chicanery,  no  corrupt  alliances ;  while,  like 
an  angel  of  mercy,  it  goes  through  the  earth,  for  the  healing 
of  the  nations.  To  borrow  the  profound  thoughts  and  beau- 
tiful language  of  Robert  Hall,  "  Christianity  will  civilize,  it 
is  true ;  but  it  is  only  when  it  is  allowed  to  develop  the  ener- 
gies by  which  it  sanctifies.  Christianity  will  inconceivably 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  being.  Who  doubts  it  ?  Its 
universal  prevalence,  not  in  name,  but  in  reality,  will  con- 
vert this  world  into  a  semi-paradisaical  state ;  but  it  is  only 
while  it  is  permitted  to  prepare  its  inhabitants  for  a  better. 
Let  her  be  urged  to  forget  her  celestial  origin  and  destiny, 
— to  forget  that  she  came  from  God,  and  returns  to  God ; 
and,  whether  employed  by  the  artful  and  enterprising,  as  the 
instrument  of  establishing  a  spiritual  empire  and  dominion 
over  mankind,  or  by  the  philanthropist,  as  the  means  of  pro- 
moting their  civilization  and  improvement, — she  resents  the 
foul  indignity,  claps  her  wings  and  takes  her  flight,  leaving 
nothing  but  a  base  and  sanctimonious  hypocrisy  in  her 
room."55 

"  Address  to  Eustace  Carey. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   PATRIARCHAL  AND  THE  PAPAL    GOVERNMENT. 

I.  The  patriarchal  government. 

This  form  of  the  hierarchy  we  shall  dismiss  with  a  very 
brief  notice.  The  principles  on  which  it  was  based,  and  its 
characteristics,  were  essentially  the  same  as  those  of  the 
metropolitan.  The  state  of  the  church  under  this  organiza- 
tion has  of  necessity  been  anticipated  in  the  preceding  re- 
marks. It  was  only  a  farther  concentration  of  ecclesiastical 
power,  another  stage  in  the  process  of  centralization,  which 
was  fast  bringing  the  church  under  the  absolute  despotism 
of  the  Papacy.  Man  naturally  aspires  to  the  exercise  of  arbi- 
trary power ;  or,  if  he  must  divide  his  authority  with  others, 
he  seeks  to  make  that  number  as  small  as  possible.  This 
disposition  had  already  manifested  itself  in  the  church.  In 
many  of  the  provinces  there  were  ecclesiastical  aspirants 
among  the  higher  orders  of  the  clergy,  who,  even  to  the  fifth 
century,  had  not  established  an  undisputed  title  to  the  pre- 
rogatives of  metropolitans.  But  the  continual  effort  and 
strife  of  the  bishops  for  a  greater  consolidation  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal power  ended  in  the  establishment  of  an  ecclesiastical  oli- 
garchy in  the  fifth  century,  under  the  form  of  the  patriarchal 
government.! 

In  the  course  of  the  period  from  the  fourth  to  the  sixth  cen- 

'^  Comp.  Planck,  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  598—624.  Ziegler's  Ver- 
such.  etc.  S.  164—365. 


310  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

tury,  arose  four  great  ecclesiastical  divisions,  whose  primates 
bore  the  title  of  Patriarch.  These  were  Rome,  Constantino- 
ple, Alexandria  and  Antioch.  Few  topics  of  antiquity  have 
been  the  subject  of  so  much  controversy  as  that  relating  to  the 
patriarchal  system,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  works  of  Salmasius, 
Petavius,  Sismondi,  Scheelstrate,  Richter  and  others.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say,  however,  that  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  A.  D. 
451,  established  five  patriarchates.  The  council  of  Nice, 
A.  D.  325,  c.  6,  7,  of  Constantinople  I,  A.  D.  381,  c.  2,  5, 
and  of  Ephesus,  A.  D.  531,  Act.  7,  had  already  conferred 
the  distinction  without  the  title.  The  incumbents  of  these 
Episcopal  Sees  were  already  invested  with  civil  powers.  The- 
odosius  the  Great,  conferred  upon  Constantinople  the  sec- 
ond rank,  a  measure  greatly  displeasing  to  Rome,  and  against 
which  Alexandria  and  Antioch  uniformly  protested.  Jeru- 
salem had  the  honor  and  dignity  of  a  patriarchate,  but  not 
the  rights  and  privileges.^ 

The  aspirations  of  prelatical  ambition  after  sole  and  su- 
preme power  are  sufficiently  manifest  in  that  bitter  contest, 
which  was  so  long  maintained  by  the  primates  of  Rome  and 
Constantinople,  for  the  title  of  universal  patriarch  or  head  of 
the  church  universal.3  Great  political  events  finally  decided 
this  controversy  in  the  course  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries 
in  the  West,  and  in  the  East  in  the  seventh  century  in  favor 
of  the  church  of  Rome.  This  decision  resulted  in  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Pope  and  the  establishment  of  the  papal  system. 

II.  The  papal  government. 

This  was  the  last  refinement  of  cunning  and  self-aggrandize- 

2  Hence  the  Romans  were  accustomed  to  say,  Patriarchae  in  eccle- 
sia  primitus  fuere,  tres  per  se  et  ex  natura  sua, — Roraanus,  Alexan- 
drinus  et  Antiochenus;  duo  per  accidens,  ConstantinopoJitanus  et 
Hierosolymitanus.  Comp.  Justinia.  Nov.  Constit.  123.  Schroeckh, 
Kirch.  Gesch.  Thl.  17.  S.  45,  46.  Comp.  Art.  Patriarch,  in  the  works 
of  Augusti,  Siegel,  Rheinwald,  W.  Bohmer,  etc. 

^  IlaTQiaQyo?  xijq  OMOvfxivy]?,  episcopus  oecumenicus,  universalis 
ecclesiae  papa,  etc. 


THE  PAPAL  GOVERNMENT.  311 

ment ;  the  culminating  point  of  ecclesiastical  usurpation,  to- 
wards which  the  government  of  the  church  under  the  Epis- 
copal hierarchy  had  been  for  several  centuries  approaching. 
It  was  an  ecclesiastical  monarchy,  a  spiritual  despotism, 
which  completed  the  overthrow  of  the  authority  of  individual 
churches  as  sovereign  and  independent  bodies.4 

The  bishop  of  Rome  was  originally  indebted,  for  his  au- 
thority and  power,  to  the  emperor  of  the  East ;  an  indebted- 
ness which  he  continued  for  some  time  to  feel.  The  bishop 
of  Constantinople,  on  the  other  hand,  acted  with  more  inde- 
pendence. In  some  instances,  he  successfully  resisted  the 
will  of  the  emperor.  But  the  decline  of  the  Eastern  empire 
greatly  promoted  the  ambitious  designs  of  the  bishop  of  Rome 
and  the  extension  of  his  power  in  Italy.  Meanwhile  the  ter- 
ritorial government  of  the  Eastern  church  was  greatly  reduced 
in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries  ;  the  hopes  of  Constanti- 
nople and  of  her  patriarch  suifered  a  corresponding  reduction. 
Territory  after  territory  fell  away  and  was  lost.  The  dio- 
ceses of  Antioch,  Jerusalem  and  Alexandria  were  overrun 
with  Mahomedanism.  Thrace  became  tributary  to  Bulgaria, 
and  Constantinople  herself  was  besieged  by  the  Saracens. 

The  bishop  of  Rome  now  began  his  splendid  career.  It 
commenced  with  the  overthrow  of  the  emperor's  authority  in 
Italy,  and  ended  in  results  auspicious  to  this  aspiring  prelate 
beyond  his  most  ardent  expectation.  The  incursion  of  the 
Longobards  into  Italy  favored  greatly  the  designs  of  the 
Roman  bishop ;  indeed,  without  the  concurrence  of  this  inva- 
sion, his  hopes  might  never  have  been  realized.  The  impor- 
tant results  of  this  circumstance  to  the  Pope,  the  decline  of 
the  Eastern  empire  by  the  dismemberment  of  different  prov- 
inces, and  the  influence  of  Gregory  and  Zacharius  in  promo- 
ting the  papal  supremacy  by  means  of  the  war  respecting  im- 
age worship  and  other  devices,  is  very  clearly  exhibited  by 

4  Comp.  Planck,  Gesell.  Verfass.  I.  S.  624—673.  Ziegler's  Ver- 
such.  etc.  S.  365—402. 


312 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


Ziegler.5  But  Gregory  III.  surpassed  all  his  predecessors  in 
his  political  mancEUvres.  After  making  use  of  the  invasion 
of  the  Longobards  to  reduce  the  power  of  the  emperor,  he 
took  care  to  have  them  removed  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Rome,  if  not  from  Italy.  Their  presence  had  been  the 
means  of  inspiring  the  people  vi'ith  a  belief  in  the  holiness  of 
the  Pope.  The  Franks  were  also  deeply  impressed  with  the 
same  sentiments.  It  was  accordingly  the  policy  of  Gregory 
to  throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  brave  Charles  Martel, 
that  so  the  secular  government  of  Rome  might  be  removed 
as  far  as  possible  from  the  city.  His  next  political  manoeu- 
vre was,  by  the  aid  of  the  Franks,  to  expel  the  Longobards 
entirely  from  Italy.  This  crafty  alliance  of  the  Pope  with 
Pepin,  proved  advantageous  only  to  the  designs  of  the  prelate, 
and  the  chief  means  of  establishing  his  secular  povver.6 

This  important  point  in  history  distinctly  marks  the  date 
of  the  establishment  of  the  papal  power  in  Rome,  which  in 
the  middle  ages  became  so  vast  that  all  Europe  trembled 
before  it. 

Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  ecclesiastical  history  introduces  first 
to  our  notice,  single  independent  churches  ;  then,  churches 
having  several  dependent  branches ;  then,  diocesan  churches ; 
then,  metropolitan  or  provincial  churches ;  and  then,  nation- 
al churches  attempered  to  the  civil  power.  In  the  end,  we 
behold  two  great  divisions  of  ecclesiastical  empire,  the  East- 
ern and  the  Western,  now  darkly  intriguing,  now  fearfully 
struggling  with  each  other  for  the  mastery,  until  at  last  the 
doctrine  of  the  miity  of  the  church  is  consummated  in  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Pope  of  Rome,  who  alone  sits  enthroned 
in  power,  claiming  to  be  the  head  of  the  church  on  earth. 
The  government  of  the  church  was  at  first  a  democracy, 

6  Versuch.  etc.  S.  367. 

^  Comp.  Ziegler  as  above.  Bowers,  Gesch.  der  Papste,  4v.  Thl. 
S.  398  seq.  Le  Bret,  Gesch.  von  Ital.  Iv.  Thl.  S.  36  seq.  Especial- 
ly Hallmann,  UrsprOnge  der  Verfass.  in  Mittelalter.  Ranke's  Hist, 
of  Popes,  B.  1.0.1.  §  7. 


THE  PAPAL  GOVERNMENT.  313 

allowing  to  all  its  constituents  the  most  enlarged  freedom  of 
a  voluntary  religious  association.  It  became  an  absolute  and 
iron  despotism.  The  gradations  of  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion through  which  it  passed,  were,  from  congregational  to  pa- 
rochial— parochial  to  diocesan — diocesan  to  metropolitan; 
— metropolitan  to  patriarchal — patriarchal  to  papal. 

The  corruptions  and  abominations  of  the  church,  through- 
that  long  night  of  darkness  which  succeeded  the  triumph  of 
the  Pope  of  Rome,  were  inexpressibly  horrible.  The  record 
of  them  may  more  fitly  lie  shrouded  in  a  dead  language,  than 
be  disclosed  to  the  light  in  the  living  speech  of  men.  The 
successors  of  St.  Peter,  as  they  call  themselves,  were  frequent- 
ly nominated  to  the  chair  of"  his  holiness"  by  women  of  in^ 
famous  and  abandoned  lives.  Not  a  few  of  them  were  shame- 
fully immoral ;  and  some,  monsters  of  wickedness.  Several 
were  heretics,  and  others  were  deposed  as  usurpers.  And 
yet  this  church  of  Rome,  *'  with  such  ministers,  and  so  ap- 
pointed,— a  church  corrupt  in  every  part  and  every  particular, 
— individually  and  collectively, — in  doctrine,  in  discipline,  in 
practice," — this  church,  prelacy  recognizes  as  the  only  repre- 
sentative of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  period  now  under 
consideration,  invested  with  all  his  authority,  and  exercising 
divine  powers  on  earth !  She  boasts  her  ordinances,  her  sacra- 
ments, transmitted  for  a  thousand  years,  unimpaired  and  un- 
contaminated,  through  such  hands !  High-Church  Episcopacy 
proudly  draws  her  own  apostolical  succession  through  this  pit 
of  pollution,  and  then  the  followers  of  Christ,  who  care  not  to 
receive  such  grace  from  such  hands,  she  calmly  delivers  over 
to  God's  "  uncovenanted  mercies !"  Nay  more,  multitudes  of 
that  communion  are  now  engaged  in  the  strange  work  of  "  un- 
protestantizing  the  churches"  which  have  washed  themselves 
from  these  defilements.  The  strife  is,  with  a  proud  array  of 
talents,  of  learning,  and  of  Episcopal  power,  to  bury  all  spir- 
itual religion  again  in  the  grave  of  forms,  to  shroud  the  light 
of  truth  in  the  gloom  of  popish  tradition,  and  to  sink  the 
27 


314 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


church  of  God  once  more  into  that  abyss  of  deep  and  dread- 
ful darkness  from  which  she  emerged  at  the  dawn  of  the  re- 
formation. In  the  beautiful  and  expressive  language  of  Mil- 
ton, their  strife  is  to  "  re-involve  us  in  that  pitchy  cloud  of  in- 
fernal darkness  where  we  shall  never  more  see  the  sun  of 
truth  again,  never  hope  for  the  cheerful  dawn,  never  more 
hear  the  bird  of  morning  sing." 


REMARKS. 

In  connection  with  the  view  which  we  have  taken  of  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  Episcopal  system  in  the  ancient 
church,  we  have  a  few  things  to  remark  upon  its  present  cha- 
racteristics and  practical  influence.  Episcopacy,  as  it  was  in 
the  beginning,  appears  to  us  to  have  been  a  lamentable  depar- 
ture from  that  form  of  government  which  the  churches  as- 
sumed originally,  under  the  guidance  of  the  apostles.  Epis- 
copacy, as  it  is  now,  though  modified  in  various  respects,  ap- 
pears to  us  still  to  retain  many  of  its  original  characteristics, 
some  of  which  we  wish  briefly  to  suggest. 

1.  We  object  to  Episcopacy,  as  a  departure  from  the  order 
of  the  apostolical  and  primitive  churches. 

To  our  minds,  nothing  is  plainer  than  that  the  government 
of  the  church,  in  the  beginning,  was  not  Episcopal.  And, 
though  we  are  not  bound,  by  any  divine  authority,  to  an  ex- 
act conformity  with  the  primitive  model,  yet  we  cannot  doubt 
that  the  apostles  were  guided  by  wisdom  from  above,  in  giv- 
ing to  the  churches  a  different  organization,  popular  in  prin- 
ciple, simple  in  form,  and  better  suited  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  church  in  every  condition  of  society. 

While,  therefore,  with  so  much  gravity  and  self-compla- 
cency. Episcopacy  talks  of  her  "  adherence  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  to  apostolical  usage,"  we  must  be  permitted 
to  object  to  her  whole  ecclesiastical  polity,  as  an  innovation 


I 


THE  PAPAL  GOVERNMENT.  315 

upon  the  scriptural  system,  and  a  total  departure  from  the 
usage  of  the  apostles,  without  any  good  reason,  or  beneficial 
results. 

2.  We  object  to  Episcopacy,  that  it  had  its  origin,  not  in 
divine  authority,  but  in  human  ambition. 

This  is  the  true  source  from  which  it  sprang  in  the  an- 
cient church.  *^  First  ambition  crept  in,  which  at  length 
begat  Antichrist,  set  him  in  the  chair,  and  brought  the  yoke 
of  bondage  upon  the  neck  of  the  church."  This,  to  our 
minds,  is  a  valid  objection  against  Episcopacy.  We  cannot 
persuade  ourselves,  that  a  system,  founded  in  human  ambi- 
tion, and  reared  and  matured  by  human  contrivance  for  sin- 
ister ends,  should  be  suffered  to  set  aside  that  order  which 
God  in  the  beginning  gave  to  the  Christian  church,  through 
the  medium  of  Christ  and  his  apostles. 

3.  Episcopacy  removes  the  laity  from  a  just  participation 
in  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  church. 

The  spirit  of  this  system  is  to  concentrate  all  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  ;  and  there  are  not  wanting 
portentous  indications,  that  this  spirit  is  at  work,  and  this  pro- 
cess of  centralization  still  going  on  in  our  country.  In  Eng- 
land it  was  long  since  completed.  Episcopacy  is  a  govern- 
ment administered  for  the  people, — the  great  expedient  of 
despotism  in  every  form.  The  government  of  the  primitive 
church  was  administered  hy  the  people, — the  great  safeguard 
of  popular  freedom,  whether  civil  or  religious. 

Discipline  is  also  administered /or  the  church  by  the  cler- 
gy. But  our  confidence  is  in  the  laity,  as  the  safest  and  best 
guardians  of  the  purity  of  the  church.  We  claim  for  them 
a  right  to  co-operate  with  the  clergy  in  all  measures  of  disci- 
pline relating  to  their  own  body ;  and  believe  it  to  be  both 
their  right  and  their  duty  to  control  the  censures  of  the 
church.  In  transferring  this  duty  from  the  laity  to  the  cler- 
gy, Episcopacy  does  great  injustice  to  the  private  members 
of  the  church,  and  equal  injury  to  the  cause  of  pure  and  un- 
defiled  religion. 


316  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

4.  Episcopacy  creates  unjust  distinctions  among  the  clergy 
whose  character  and  profession  is  the  same. 

The  Scriptures  authorize  no  distinction  in  the  duties, 
privileges,  or  prerogatives  of  bishops,  and  priests  or  presby- 
ters. The  distinction  is  arbitrary  and  unjust.  It  denies  to 
a  portion  of  the  clergy  the  performance  of  certain  duties  for 
which  they  are  duly  qualified,  and  to  which  they  are  fully  en- 
titled in  common  with  the  bishops.  It  hinders  the  inferior 
clergy  in  the  performance  of  their  proper  ministerial  duties, 
and  degrades  them  in  the  estimation  of  the  people. 

5.  We  cannot  avoid  the  conviction  that  Episcopacy  gives 
play  to  the  bad  passions  of  men. 

We  have  seen  what  mischief  it  wrought  in  the  ancient 
church,  and  we  see  not  why  the  same  causes,  operating  upon 
the  heart  of  man,  should  not  now  produce  the  same  results. 
Is  not  the  human  heart  still  open  to  pride,  to  ambition,  to  lust 
for  power,  and  love  of  supremacy  1  And  is  there  nothing  in 
all  these  Episcopal  orders, — deacon,  priest,  bishop,  archbish- 
op, etc.  towering  one  above  another, — is  there  nothing  in  all 
these  to  excite  the  bad  passions  of  men  ?  And  where  so  much 
depends  upon  patronage  and  Episcopal  favor,  is  there  nothing 
to  destroy  a  manly  independence  of  the  subordinate  ranks ; 
creating  in  them  a  cringing  sycophancy  that  moves  in  subser- 
viency to  the  prelate?  Nothing  to  excite  the  discontent,  the 
jealousy,  or  the  envy  of  mortified  ambition  ?  Instead  of  all 
this  right  hand  and  left  hand,  this  going  before,  and  in  com- 
pany, of  which  Gregory  complains,  give  us  rather  the  simpli- 
city of  the  gospel  order,  which  knows  no  such  distinctions 
between  the  ministers  of  Christ. 

6.  We  object  to  the  exclusive,  intolerant  spirit  of  Epis- 
copacy. 

This,  to  our  minds  is  one  of  its  most  obnoxious  character- 
istics. That  this  single  church  should  assume  to  be  the  only 
true  church,  and  its  clergy  the  only  authorized  ministers ;  that 
the  only  valid  ordinances  and  sacraments  are  administered  in 


THE  PAPAL  GOVERNMENT.  317 

their  communion ;  that  they  alone,  of  all  to  whom  salvation 
by  grace  is  so  freely  published,  are  received  into  covenant 
mercy, — all  this  appears  to  us  as  nothing  else  than  a  proud  and 
sanctimonious  self-righteousness,  which  we  can  only  regard 
with  unmingled  abhorrence.  There  is  an  atrocity  of  char- 
acter in  this  spirit,  which  can  unchurch  the  saints  of  God  of 
every  age,  in  every  Christian  communion,  save  one,  and  con- 
sign them,  if  not  to  perdition,  to  God's  uncovenanted  mercy; 
— in  all  this  there  is  an  atrocity  of  character,  which,  in  other 
days,  has  found,  as  it  seems  to  us,  its  just  expression  in  the 
fires  of  Smithfield,  and  in  the  slow  torture  of  the  auto-da-fe. 
Episcopacy  holds  no  fellowship,  no  communion  with  us, — 
dissenters.  "  The  Episcopal  church,  deriving  its  Episcopal 
power  in  regular  succession  from  the  holy  apostles,  through 
the  venerable  church  of  England,"  makes  public  declaration, 
through  its  bishops,  that  it  has  "  no  ecclesiastical  connection 
with  the  followers  of  Luther  and  Calvin."  Be  it  so.  To  all 
this  we  do  not  care  to  object.  But  we  have  a  right  to  our 
own  conclusions  respecting  a  religion  characterized  by  such 
exclusiveness. 

We  have  already  learned,  from  Planck,  the  able  expounder 
of  the  constitutional  history  of  the  Christian  church,  the 
origin  of  these  high-church  dogmas  in  the  ancient  hierarchy. 
A  profound  expositor  of  the  constitutional  history  of  Eng- 
land has  also  sketched  the  origin  of  these  high  pretensions 
in  the  English  church.  They  are  of  comparatively  recent 
origin,  dating  back  only  a  few  years  antecedent  to  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Puritans,  in  this  country.  They  sprang,  also, 
from  the  same  spirit  for  which  high-church  Episcopacy  has 
ever  been  so  much  distinguished, — that  is,  unmitigated  ha- 
tred of  the  religion  of  the  Puritans.  Bancroft,  the  chaplain 
of  archbishop  Whitgift  first  broached  these  doctrines ;  but 
archbishop  Laud  has  the  credit  of  re-affirming  and  establish- 
ing them.  "  Laud  and  his  party,  began,  about  the  end  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  by  preaching  the  divine  right,  as  it  is  call- 
27* 


318  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

ed,  or  absolute  indispensability  of  Episcopacy ;  a  doctrine, 
of  which  the  first  traces,  as  I  apprehend,  are  found  about  the 
end  of  Elizabeth's  reign.  They  insisted  on  the  necessity  of 
Episcopal  succession,  regularly  derived  from  the  apostles. 
They  drew  an  inference  from  this  tenet,  that  ordinations  by 
presbyters  were,  in  all  cases,  null."  Of  Lutherans  and  Cal- 
vinists,  they  began  now  to  speak,  "  as  aliens,  to  whom  they 
were  not  at  all  related,  and  schismatics,  with  whom  they  held 
no  communion ;  nay,  as  wanting  the  very  essence  of  Chris- 
tian society.  This  again  brought  them  nearer,  by  irresistible 
consequence,  to  the  disciples  of  Rome,  whom,  with  becom- 
ing charity,  but  against  the  received  creed  of  the  Puritans, 
and,  perhaps,  against  their  own  articles,  they  all  acknow- 
ledged to  be  a  part  of  the  catholic  church."^ 

7.  Episcopacy  is  monarchical  and  anti-republican. 

It  is  monarchical  in  form,  monarchical  in  spirit,  and,  until 
transplanted  to  these  states,  has  been,  always  and  every- 
where, the  handmaid  of  monarchy.  And  here  it  is  a  mere 
■exotic,  which  is  altogether  uncongenial  with  our  own  repub- 
lican soil.  Its  monarchical  tendencies  and  sympathies  are 
clearly  exhibited  by  Hallam,  a  historian  of  extensive,  and 
profound  erudition,  whose  work  on  the  Constitutional  His- 
tory of  England,  Macaulay  characterizes  as  '*  the  most  im- 
partial book  that  he  ever  read."  "  The  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience.  Episcopacy  taught  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  even 
in  her  homilies.  To  withstand  the  Catholics,  the  reliance  of 
Parliament  was  upon  the  '  stern,  intrepid,  and  uncomprom- 
ising spirit  of  Puritanism.'  Of  the  conforming  churchmen, 
•in  general,  they  might  well  be  doubtful. "^ 

The  doctrine  of  the  king's  absolute  authority  was  incul- 
cated by  the  Episcopal  clergy.  "  Especially  with  the  high- 
church  party  it  had  become  current."^ 

Under  Charles  I,  "  they  studiously  inculcated,  that  resis- 

'  Hallam's  Constitutional  History,  Vol.  1.  pp.  540,  541. 
8  Ibid.  pp.  262,  263.  ^  Ibid.  pp.  437, 438. 


THE  PAPAL  GOVERNMENT.  319 

tance  to  the  commands  of  rulers  was,  in  every  conceivable 
instance^  a  heinous  sin.  It  was  taught  in  their  homilies."io 
"  It  was  laid  down  in  the  canons  of  convocation,  1606."ii 

Sibthorp  and  Mainwaring,  "  eager  for  preferment,  which 
they  knew  the  readiest  method  to  obtain,  taught  that  the  king 
might  take  the  subject's  money  at  pleasure,  and  that  no  one 
might  refuse  his  demand,  on  penalty  of  damnation."  And 
for  such  true  and  loyal  sentiments,  Mainwaring  was  honored 
with  a  bishopric  by  Charles,  and  Sibthorp  with  an  inferior 
dignity. 

James  considered  Episcopacy  essential  to  the  existence  of 
monarchy,  uniformly  embodying  this  sentiment  in  his  favor- 
ite aphorism,  "No  bishop,  no  king."i2 

Elizabeth  and  her  successors,  says  Macaulay,  "  by  consid- 
ering conformity  and  loyalty  as  identical,  at  length  made  them 
so." 

"  Charles  himself  says  in  his  letters,  that  he  looks  on  Epis- 
copacy as  a  stronger  support  of  monarchical  power  than  even 
an  army.  From  causes  which  we  have  already  considered, 
the  Established  Church  had  been,  since  the  Reformation,  the 
great  bulwark  of  the  prerogative."'^  ghe  was,  according  to 
the  same  eloquent  writer,  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  fif- 
ty years,  "  the  servile  handmaid  of  monarchy,  the  steady  en- 
emy of  public  liberty.  The  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the 
duty  of  passively  obeying  all  their  commands,  were  her  favor- 
ite tenets.  She  held  them  firmly,  through  times  of  oppres- 
sion, persecution,  and  licentiousness ;  while  law  was  trampled 
down ;  while  judgment  was  perverted ;  while  the  people  were 
eaten,  as  though  they  were  bread. "i"* 

Great  objection  was  made  to  the  introduction  of  Episcopa- 
cy into  this  country,  on  account  of  its  monarchical  principles 

10  Ilallam's  Const.  Hist.  Vol.  1.  p.  'ZQA.  "  Ibid.  pp.  567—570. 

>2  Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans,  Vol.  H.  pp.  43,  44. 
'3  Macaulay  s  Miscellanies,  Vol.  1.  p.  293.     Boston  ed. 
1^  Ibid.  p.  249. 


320  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

and  tendencies,  so  entirely  adverse  to  the  popular  spirit  of 
our  government  and  our  religion.  It  was  received,  at  last, 
only  on  its  making  large  concessions  to  the  spirit  of  our  free 
institutions.  In  the  revolutionary  struggle,  great  numbers 
of  that  denomination,  and  a  larger  proportion  of  their  clergy, 
remained  the  fast  adherents  to  the  British  crown.  Indeed,  the 
monarchical  spirit  of  Episcopacy,  and  its  uncongeniality  with 
our  free  institutions,  is  too  obvious  to  need  illustration.^^ 

Our  fathers  came  here  to  establish  "  a  state  without  king, 
or  nobles,  and  a  church  without  a  bishop."  They  sought  to 
establish  themselves  here,  as  "  a  people  governed  by  laws  of 
their  own  making,  and  by  rulers  of  their  own  choosing." 
And  here,  in  peaceful  seclusion  from  the  oppression  of  every 
dynasty,  whether  spiritual  or  temporal,  they  became  an  inde- 
pendent and  prosperous  commonwealth.  But  what  affinity, 
what  sympathy  has  its  government,  civil  or  religious,  with  that 
of  Episcopacy  ?  the  one,  republican ;  the  other,  monarchical ; 
in  sympathy,  in  principle,  in  form,  they  are  directly  opposed 
to  each  other.  We  doubt  not  that  most  of  the  members  of 
that  communion  are  friends  to  our  republican  government ; 
but  we  must  regard  their  religion  as  a  strange,  unseemly  an- 
omaly here ; — a  religious  government,  arbitrary  and  despotic, 
in  the  midst  of  the  highest  political  freedom ;  a  spiritual  des- 
potism, in  the  heart  of  a  free  republic  ! 

*^  See  an  extract  from  Chandler's  Appeal  on  behalf  of  the  church 
of  England  in  America,  N.  Y.,  1767,  cited  in  Smyth's  Eccl.  Repub- 
licanism, which  concedes  fully  the  monarchical  spirit  of  Episcopacy. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Tfie  religious  worship  of  the  primitive  Christians  was  con- 
ducted in  the  same  simplicity  and  freedom  which  character- 
ized all  their  ecclesiastical  polity.  They  came  together  for 
the  worship  of  God,  in  the  confidence  of  mutual  love,  and 
prayed,  and  sung,  and  spoke  in  the  fulness  of  their  hearts. 
A  liturgy  and  a  prescribed  form  of  prayer  were  alike  un- 
known, and  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  their  worship. 

In  the  following  chapter,  it  will  be  my  object  to  establish 
the  following  propositions. 

I.  That  the  use  of  forms  of  prayer  is  opposed  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 

II.  That  it  is  opposed  to  the  example  of  Christ  and  of  his 
apostles. 

III.  That  it  is  unauthorized  by  the  instructions  of  Christ 
and  the  apostles. 

IV.  That  it  is  contrary  to  the  simplicity  and  freedom  of 
primitive  worship. 

V.  That  it  was  unknown  in  the  primitive  church. 

I.  The  use  of  forms  of  prayer  is  opposed  to  the  spirit  of 
the  Christian  dispensation. 

"  The  truth,"  says  Christ,  "  shall  make  you  free."  One 
part  of  this  freedom  was  exemption  from  the  burdensome 
rites  and  formalities  of  the  Jewish  religion.     "  The  Lord's 


322 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


free  man  "  was  no  longer  bound  to  wear  that  yoke  of  bondage ; 
but,  according  to  the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  James  1:  25.  2: 
12,  was  required  only  to  worship  God,  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
Paul  often  reproved  Peter,  and  others  for  their  needless  sub- 
jection to  the  bondage  of  the  Jewish  ritual,  which  imposed 
unauthorized  burdens  upon  Christians.  Gal.  2:  4  seq.  J^:  1 
seq.  4:  9  seq.  Rom.  10:  4  seq.  14:  5,  6.  Col.  2:  16—20. 
Such  was  the  perfect  law  of  liberty  which  the  religion  of 
Christ  gave  to  his  followers.  It  imposed  upon  them  no  cum- 
bersome rites;  it  required  no  prescribed  forms,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  simple  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
supper.  It  required  only  the  homage  of  the  heart ;  the  wor- 
shipping of  God  in  sincerity  and  in  truth.  So  taught  our  Sa- 
viour and  his  apostles. 

Indications  of  irregularity  and  disorder  are,  indeed,  appa- 
rent in  some  of  the  churches  whom  Paul  addresses ;  particu- 
larly among  the  Corinthians.  1  Cor.  14:  1  seq.  These  ir- 
regularities, however,  he  severely  rebukes,  assuring  them 
that  God  is  not  the  author  of  confusion,  but  of  peace,  v.  33  ] 
i.  e.,  of  harmony  in  sentiment,  and  in  action,  as  appears  from 
the  context.  He  ends  his  rebuke  by  exhorting  them  to  let 
all  things  be  done  decently,  and  in  order ;  declaring  at  the 
same  time,  that  the  things  which  he  writes  on  this  subject, 
are  the  commandments  of  God.  v.  37.  He  commends  the 
Colossians,  on  the  other  hand,  for  the  good  order  and  propri- 
ety which  they  observed  ;  "joying  and  beholding  their  order  ^ 
and  the  steadfastness  of  their  faith."  Col.  2:  5. 

The  freedom  of  the  gospel  was  not  licentiousness.  It  gave 
no  countenance  to  disorder  and  confusion,  in  the  assemblies 
of  the  primitive  Christians,  convened  for  the  worship  of  God. 
But  it  required  them  to  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ; 
in  a  confiding,  filial,  and  affectionate  spirit.  This  is  that 
spirit  of  adoption  which  was  given  them,  and  which,  instead 
of  the  timid,  cowering  spirit  of  a  slave,  taught  them  to  come 
with  holy  boldness  to  the  throne  of  grace ;  and  in  the  trust- 


THE  PAPAL  GOVERNMENT.  323 

ful  confidence  of  a  child,  to  say  "  Our  Father  which  art  in 
heaven." 

We  will  not,  indeed,  assert  that  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  in- 
compatible with  the  use  of  a  prescribed  form ;  but  we  must 
feel  that  the  warm  and  gushing  emotions  of  a  pious  heart  flow 
not  forth  in  one  unvaried  channel.  Who,  in  his  favored  mo- 
ments of  rapt  communion,  when  with  unusual  fervor  of  devo- 
tion, he  draws  near  to  God,  and  leaning  on  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  with  all  the  simplicity  of  a  little  child,  seeks  to  give 
utterance  to  the  prayer  of  his  heart, — who  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, could  breathe  to  heaven  his  warm  desires  through 
the  cold  formalities  of  a  prayer-book  ?  When  praying  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  itself  helping  our  infirmities,  and  mak- 
ing intercession  for  us  with  groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered, 
must  we,  can  we,  employ  any  prescribed  form  of  words  to  ex- 
press these  unutterable  things.^  "  Prayer  by  book,"  says  bish- 
op Wilkins  in  his  Gift  of  Prayer,  "  is  commonly  of  itself  some- 
thing j^a<  and  dead;  floating  for  the  most  part  in  generalities, 
and  not  particular  enough  for  each  several  occasion.  There 
is  not  that  life  and  vigor  in  it  to  engage  the  affections,  as  when 
it  proceedeth  immediately  from  the  soul  itself,  and  is  the  nat- 
ural expression  of  those  particulars  whereof  we  are  most  sen- 
sible. It  is  not  easy  to  express  what  a  vast  difference  a  man 
may  find  in  respect  to  inward  comfort  and  satisfaction,  be- 
tween those  private  prayers  that  are  rendered  from  the  affec- 
tions, and  those  prescribed  forms  that  we  say  by  rote  or  read 
out  of  a  book."  Such  a  form  if  not  incompatible  with  such 
aids  of  the  Spirit,  and  such  promises  of  his  word,  must  at 
least  be  opposed  to  them.  So  prayed  not  our  Lord.  Such 
were  not  the  prayers  of  his  disciples.  This  proposition  in- 
troduces our  second  topic  of  remark. 

II.  The  use  of  forms  of  prayer  is  opposed  to  the  example 
of  Christ  and  the  apostles. 

^  Comp.  Bishop  Hall,  in  Porter's  Homiletics,  p.  294. 


324  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Several  of  our  Lord's  prayers  are  left  on  record,  all  of 
which  plainly  arose  out  of  the  occasion  on  which  they  were 
offered,  and  were  strictly  extemporaneous.  So  far  as  his  ex- 
ample may  be  said  to  bear  upon  the  subject,  it  is  against  the 
use  of  forms  of  prayer. 

The  prayers  of  the  apostles  were  likewise  occasional  and 
extemporaneous.  Such  was  the  prayer  of  the  disciples  at  the 
election  of  Matthias,  Acts  I:  24;  of  the  church  at  the  re- 
lease of  Peter  and  John,  4:  24 — 31 ;  of  Peter  at  the  raising 
to  life  of  Tabitha,  9:  40 ;  of  the  church  for  the  release  of 
Peter  under  the  persecution  of  Herod ;  and  of  Paul  at  his 
final  interview  with  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  20:  36 ;  he  kneel- 
ed down  upon  the  beach,  and  prayed  as  the  struggling  emo- 
tions of  his  heart  allowed  him  utterance. 

It  is  particularly  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  all  the  exam- 
ples of  prayer  in  the  New  Testament,  several  of  which  are 
recorded  apparently  entire,  there  is  no  similarity  of  form, 
or  of  expression ;  nor  any  repetition  of  a  form,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  response.  Amen,  Peace  be  with  you, 
etc.  Even  our  Lord's  prayer  is  never  repeated  on  such  oc- 
casions ;  nor  is  there,  in  all  the  New  Testament,  the  slight- 
est indications  of  its  use  either  by  the  apostles,  or  by  the 
churches  which  they  established. 

The  apostles,  then,  prayed  extemporaneously.  Their  ex- 
ample is  in  favor  of  this  mode  of  offering  unto  God  the  de- 
sires of  our  soul.  Paul  often  requests  the  prayers  of  the 
churches  to  whom  he  writes,  in  regard  to  particulars  so  va- 
rious, and  so  minute,  as  to  forbid  the  supposition  that  they 
could  have  been  expressed  in  a  liturgy.  The  same  may  be 
said  in  regard  to  his  exhortations  to  prayer,  some  of  which, 
at  least,  are  generally  admitted  to  have  relation  particularly 
Xo  public  prayer,  1  Tim.  2:  I  seq.  Who,  on  reading  these 
various  exhortations,  without  any  previous  opinions  or  par- 
tialities, would  ever  have  been  directed  by  all  that  the  apos- 
tle has  written,  to  the  use  of  any  form  of  prayer  1 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  325 

Our  Lord's  prayer,  itself,  is  recorded  with  variations  so 
great,  as  to  forbid  the  supposition  that  it  was  designed  to  be 
used  as  a  prescribed  form  ;  as  the  reader  must  see  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  parallel  passages  in  the  margin.2 

So  great  is  the  variation  in  these  two  forms,  that  many^ 
have  supposed  they  ought  to  be  regarded  as  two  distinct 
prayers.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  Origen.  He  notices  the 
different  occasions  on  which  the  two  prayers  were  offered,  and' 
concludes  that  the  resemblance  is  only  such  as  might  be  ex- 
pected from  the  nature  of  the  subject.^ 

III.  The  use  of  forms  of  prayer  is  unauthorized  by  the  in- 
structions of  Christ  and  the  apostles. 

If  any  instructions  to  this  effect  were  given  by  Christ,  they 

2  In  Matt.  6  :  9—13.  In  Luke  11  :  2—4. 

nATEP  i)nuv  6  iv  rotq  ou-  UATEP^ 

gavoTg '    uyiaa&rirca   to    ovofid     ayiaad^r]xm  to  ovofia  aov ' 
nov.  iXd^sTO}  71  ^aaiXda  aov. 

'£l&6T(a  ^  ^atnXda  aov '  ys- 
vri-d^ritw  TO  &ilr}fid  <tov,  tog  iv 
ovgavM,  y,al  inl  XTjg  yijg. 

Tov  aqzov  ri^av  xov  iniov-  Tov  aqxov  iifXMV   xbv  intov- 

aiov  dog  f](uv  arJixEQOv.  aiov  didov^fuv  ToitaS^  ^ifiiqav. 

Kal  a(psg  ijfuv  t«  o(puXr\^a~  Kal  acpsg  ijfitv  rag  ccfxaQxlag 

Ttt  ri^MV,  dig  xal  i]fitig  dcplt^BV     7jfi(av '  xal  yaq   avxol   atpieiisv 
Tolg  ocpBiXiiaig  rifXMV.  navxl  bcpslXovri  i]^7v' 

Kal  iA7j  shsvsyxrig  ri^dg  ug         ytal   nr\    ttasviyxjjg   ^fiag   sig 
nBigaafioVj    dXXd    gvaau   'tjfiag     nsigaaf^ov. 
anb  TOV  Tiovtjgov. 

The  doxology  is  generally  supposed  to  be  spurious ;  but  without 
noticing  the  omission  of  this  in  Luke,  the  prayers  are  as  various  as 
they  might  be  expected  to  be,  if  delivered  extemporaneously  on  two 
different  occasions,  without  any  intention  of  offering  either  as  a  pre- 
scribed form  of  prayer. 

^  BsXriov  y  dia(f6govg  vofiitsGdat  rag  TTQCGSvydg  xoivd  riva  exovatji 
(Aigrj.     Ilegl  evx^Q- — Vol.  I.  p.  227. 

28 


^6  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

were  in  connection  with  the  prayer  which  he  taught  his  dis- 
ciples. We  have,  therefore,  to  examine  somewhat  in  detail, 
the  nature  and  design  of  the  Lord's  prayer.  The  views  of 
the  learned  respecting  the  nature  of  our  Lord's  prayer,  and 
the  ends  designed  by  it,  are  arranged  by  Augusti  under  three 
several  classes : 

1.  Those  who  maintain  that  Christ  offered  no  prescribed 
form  of  prayer,  either  for  his  immediate  disciples,  or  for  believ- 
ers in  any  age ;  but  that  he  gave  this  as  an  example  of  the 
filial  and  reverential  spirit  in  which  we  should  offer  our 
prayers  to  God,  and  of  the  simplicity  and  brevity  which  ought 
to  characterize  our  supplications,  in  opposition  to  the  vain  re- 
petitions of  the  heathen,  and  the  ostentatious  formalities  of 
the  Pharisees.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  this  was  origi- 
nally given  immediately  after  rebuking  such  hypocritical  de- 
votions. Augustine,  A.  D.  400,  expressly  declares,  that  Christ 
did  not  teach  his  disciples  what  ivords  they  should  use  in 
prayer;  but  whdit  things  t/iei/  should  pray  for ,  when  engaged 
in  silent,  mental  prayer.'^ 

2.  Those  who  contend  that  it  is  a  specific  and  invariable 
form,  to  be  used  by  Christians  in  all  ages,  like  the  baptismal 
formula  in  Matt.  28 :  19,  20 ;  though  not  to  the  exclusion 
of  other  forms  of  prayer. 

3.  Others  incline  to  the  opinion,  that  the  prayer  is  an  epi- 
tome of  the  Jewish  forms  of  prayer  which  were  then  in  use ; 
and  that  it  comprised,  in  its  several  parts,  the  very  words 
with  which  their  prayers  began,  and  which  were  embodied  in 
one,  as  a  substitute  for  so  many  long  and  unmeaning  forms  of 
prayer. 

Whatever  be  the  true  view  of  this  subject,  it  is  remarkable 
that  our  Lord's  prayer  was  not  in  use  in  the  age  of  the  apos- 
tles.    Not  the  remotest  allusion  to  it  occurs  in  the  history  of 

*  Non  enim  verba,  sed  res  ipsas  eos  verbis  docuit,  quibus  et  seipsi 
commonefacerent  a  quo,  et  quid  esset  orandum  cum  in  penetralibus, 
ut  dictum,  est  mentis  orarent. — De  Magistro,  c.  2.  Vol.  I.  p.  402. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  327 

the  acts  of  the  aposiles,  nor  in  their  epistles.  It  is  true,  in- 
deed, that  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament  was  not  then  es- 
tablished, nor  their  writings  extensively  known;  but  we 
must  suppose  that  tradition  would,  at  least  in  some  degree, 
have  supplied  the  place  of  the  gospels.  The  supposition, 
that,  in  all  cases  of  prayer  by  the  disciples  and  early  Chris- 
tians, the  use  of  this  form  must  be  presumed,  like  that  of  the 
baptismal  formula,  is  altogether  gratuitous  and  groundless. 

In  the  apostolical  fathers,  also,  no  trace  is  found  of  this 
prayer.  Neither  Clement,  nor  Polycarp,  nor  any  father, 
makes  allusion  to  it,  antecedent  to  Justin  Martyr,  A.  D.  148. 
And  he  informs  us  that  in  Christian  assemblies,  the  presiding 
minister  offered  up  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  as  he  was  able, 
oari  dvvafiig  avt^,  and  that  thereupon  the  people  answered 
Amen !  This  expression,  as  we  shall  endeavor  to  show  in 
another  place,  means, — as  well  as  he  could ^  or  to  the  best  of 
his  ability.  It  shows  that  public  prayers  were  not  confined 
to  any  pre-composed  forms.  The  Lord's  prayer  may  have 
been  used  in  connection  with  these  extemporary  addresses  of 
the  minister ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  such  a  usage.  In 
describing  the  ceremony  of  baptism,  Justin  speaks  of  the  use 
which  is  made  of  "  the  name  of  the  universal  father,"  to  rov 
TlazQog  tmv  oXcov,  which  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  an  allu- 
sion to   the  expression,  "  our  Father  which  art  in  heaven." 

Lucian,  A.  D.  180,  in  his  Philopatris,  speaks  of  the  pray- 
er  which  begins  with  the  Father,  iv^tj  ano  TlatQog  aQ^dfiS- 
vog,  which  may  possibly  be  a  similar  allusion  to  our  Lord's 
prayer. 

Nothing  much  more  explicit  occurs  in  Irenaeus.  He 
says,  however,  "  Christ  has  taught  us  to  say  in  prayer, 
*  And  forgive  us  our  debts  ;'  for  he  is  our  Father,  whose  debt- 
ors we  are,  having  transgressed  his  precepts."^  This  pas- 
sage only  shows  his  acquaintance  with  the  prayer,  but  proves 
nothing  in  relation  to  the  liturgical  use  of  it.     The  same 

^  Adv.  Haeres.  Lib.  5.  c.  17. 


328  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

may  be  said  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  makes  evident 
allusion  to  the  Lord's  prayer  in  several  passages.6 

The  Apostolical  Constitutions  belong  to  a  later  age,  and 
cannot,  therefore,  be  introduced  as  evidence  in  the  question 
under  consideration. 

Tertullian,  at  the  close  of  the  second  century  and  begin- 
ning of  the  third,  together  with  Origen,  and  Cyprian,  who 
lived  a  few  years  later,  give  more  authentic  notices  of  the 
Lord's  prayer. 

Tertullian  not  only  quotes  the  Lord's  prayer  in  various 
parts  of  his  writings,  but  he  has  left  a  treatise  "  On  Prayer," 
which  consists  of  an  exposition  of  it,  with  some  remarks  ap- 
pended, concerning  the  customs  observed  in  prayer.  In  this 
treatise,  which  he  is  supposed  to  have  written,  before  he 
went  over  to  Montanism,  i.  e.,  before  the  year  200,  Tertul- 
lian represents  this  prayer,  not  merely  as  an  exemplar,  or 
pattern  of  Christian  petitions,  but  as  the  quintescence  and 
ground  of  all  prayer ;  and  as  a  summary  of  the  gospel."''  He 
strongly  recommends,  however,  other  prayers,  and  enumer- 
ates the  several  parts  of  prayer,  such  as  supplication,  entreaty, 
confession  of  sin,  and  then  proceeds  to  show  that  we  may 
offer  other  petitions,  according  to  our  accidental  circum- 
stances and  desires,  having  premised  this  legitimate  and  or- 
dinary prayer  which  is  the  foundation  of  all.^ 

Cyprian,  who  died  A.  D.  258,  repeats  the  sentiments  of 
Tertullian,  whom  he  recognizes,  to  a  great  extent,  as  his 
guide  in  all  points  of  doctrine.  He  wrote  a  treatise  on  the 
Lord's  prayer,  on  nearly  the  same  plan  as  that  of  Tertullian. 

'  Especially  Paedag.  Lib.  3. 

7  De  Oratione,  c.  1.  pp.  129,  130. 

^  Quoniam  tamen  Dominus,  prospector  humanarum  necessitatum, 
seorsum  post  traditam  orandi  disciplinam,  "  petite,"  inquit  "  et  acci- 
pietis ;"  et  sunt,  quae  petantur  pro  circumstantia  cujusque,  praemissa 
legitima  et  OTdi?iaria,  oratione  quasi  fundamento  ;  accidentivmjus  est 
desideriorum  jus  est  sujjerstrucndi  extrinsecus  petitiones. — De  Orat. 
c.  9. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

He  has  less  spirit,  but  is  more  full  than  his  predecessor ;  and 
often  explains  his  obscurities.  Cyprian  says,  that  our  Lord 
among  other  important  precepts  and  instructions,  gave  us  a 
form  of  prayer,  and  taught  us  for  what  we  should  pray.  He 
also  styles  the  prayer,  our  public  and  common  prayer  f  and 
urges  the  use  of  it  by  considerations  drawn  from  the  nature  of 
prayer,  without  asserting  its  liturgical  authority  or  established 
use. 

Origen,  contemporary  with  Cyprian,  has  a  treatise  on 
prayer,  in  the  latter  part  of  which,  he  comments  at  length 
upon  the  Lord's  prayer.  His  remarks  are  extremely  discur- 
sive, and  chiefly  of  a  moral  and  practical  character ;  so  that 
we  derive  no  satisfactory  information  from  him  respecting 
the  liturgical  use  of  this  prayer,  or  of  these  prayers  rather 
as  he  regards  them.  He,  however,  warns  his  readers  against 
vain  repetitions  and  improper  requests,  charging  them  not  to 
battologize  in  their  prayers ; — an  error  which  they  could  have 
been  in  no  danger  of  committing,  had  they  been  guided  by 
the  dictation  of  a  prayer-book.  The  explanation  which  he 
gives  implies  the  use  of  extemporaneous  prayer.^o 

It  appears  from  the  foregoing  authorities,  that  our  Lord's 
prayer  was  never  regularly  used  by  the  apostles  themselves, 
nor  by  the  churches  which  they  founded,  until  the  close  of 
the  second  century  and  beginning  of  the  third.  From  this 
time  it  began  to  be  used,  and  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries 
was  a  part  of  the  public  liturgies  of  the  church. 

With  reference  to  the  Lord's  prayer  we  subjoin  the  fol- 
lowing remarks, 

L  It  is  questionable  whether  the  words  of  this  prayer  were 
indited  by  our  Lord  himself.  If  we  adopt  the  theory  of  many 
that  it  is  a  compend  of  the  customary  prayers  in  the  religious 

'  Inter  cetera  sua  salutaria  raonita  et  praecepta  divina,  .  .  .  etiam 
orandi  ipse  formam  dedit, .  .  .  publicaest  nobis  et  communis  oratio. — 
De  Oratione,  pp.  204—206. 

»o  De  Oratione,  c.  21.  p.  230. 

28* 


330  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

service  of  the  Jews,  how  can  it  with  propriety  be  affirmed 
that  our  Lord  gave  to  his  disciples  any/on»  of  prayer  what- 
ever as  his  own  1 

2.  This  appears  not  to  have  been  given  to  the  disciples  as 
a  form  of  public  prayer;  but  as  a  specimen  of  that  spiritual^ 
ity  and  simplicity,  which  should  appear  in  their  devotions, 
in  opposition  to  the  "  vain  repetitions  of  the  heathen,"  and 
the  heartless  formalities  of  the  Pharisees.  It  merely  en- 
forces a  holy  importunity,  sincerity  and  simplicity  in  private 
prayer.  It  was  a  prayer  to  be  offered  in  secret,  as  the  con- 
text in  both  instances  indicates,  Matt.  6 :  3 — 14.  Luke  11 : 
1—13. 

3.  Our  Lord  expressly  enjoined  upon  his  disciples  to  offer 
other  petitions,  of  the  highest  importance,  for  which  no  form 
is  given.  The  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  offered  to  those 
who  shall  ask,  while  yet  no  prescribed  formula  is  given,  in 
which  to  make  known  our  requests  for  this  blessing.  Why 
iiave  we  not,  therefore,  the  same  authority,  even  from  Christ 
liimself,  for  extemporaneous  as  for  precomposed  prayer  1  At 
least  we  must  presume  that  our  Lord  had  no  intention  of  pre- 
scribing an  exact  model  of  prayer,  while  at  the  same  time 
lie  taught  us  to  pray,  without  any  form,  for  the  highest  bless- 
ing which  we  can  receive. 

4.  A  strict  adherence  to  this  form  is  incompatible  with  a 
suitable  recognition  of  Christ  as  our  mediator  and  interces- 
sor with  the  Father.  "  Hitherto,"  said  our  Lord  in  his  last 
-interview  with  his  disciples  before  he  suffered,  **  ye  have 
asked  nothing  in  my  name."  But  a  new  and  peculiar  dis- 
pensation was  opening  to  them,  by  which  they  might  have 
^*  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus." 
The  petitions  of  that  prayer  might,  indeed,  be  suitable  to  the 
Christian  in  every  age,  and  in  all  stages  of  his  spiritual  pro- 
gress ;  but  they  are  appropriate  rather,  to  those  under  the 
law,  than  to  those  under  grace.  They  breathe  not  the  pecu- 
liar spirit  of  him  who  would  plead  the  name  of  Christ  alone, 
in  suing  for  pardon  and  acceptance  with  God. 


PRAYERS  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  331 

5.  This  prayer  belongs  rather  to  the  economy  of  the  Old 
than  to  that  of  the  New  Testament.  Christ  was  not  yet 
glorified.  The  Spirit  was  not  given ;  neither  was  the  law  of 
ordinances  abolished.  However  useful  or  important  it  may 
have  been,  in  the  worship  of  God  under  the  Old  Testament, 
is  it  of  necessity  imposed  upon  us  under  that  better  covenant 
which  God  has  given  ;  and  by  which  he  gives  us  nearness  of 
access  to  his  throne,  without  any  of  the  formalities  of  the 
ancient  Jewish  ritual,  only  requiring  us  to  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth  ? 

6.  The  variations  of  phraseology  in  the  forms  given  by  the 
evangelists,  are  so  great  as  to  forbid  the  supposition  that  it  is 
to  be  regarded  as  a  specific  and  prescribed  form  of  prayer. 
The  reader  has  only  to  notice  the  two  forms  of  Matthew 
and  Luke,  to  see  that  the  variations  are  too  numerous  and 
important  to  justify  an  adherence  to  one  invariable  form  of 
speech.  The  only  form  of  prayer  that  can  be  found  in  the 
Scriptures,  is  recorded  on  two  occasions,  with  such  variations 
as  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  deriving  from  either  any  au- 
thorized and  unchangeable  form.  They  have  that  general 
resemblance,  united  with  circumstantial  variations,  which 
might  be  expected  in  the  prayers  of  one  who  was  careful  on- 
ly to  utter  the  same  sentiments  without  any  studied  phraseol- 
ogy or  set  form  of  words.  They  are  as  various  as  two  ex- 
temporaneous prayers  might  be  expected  to  be,  if  uttered  up- 
on two  similar  occasions  with  reference  to  the  same  subject.^i 

IV.  The  use  of  forms  of  prayer  is  not  congenial  with  the 
simplicity  and  freedom  of  primitive  worship. 

All  the  early  records  of  antiquity  relating  to  the  ecclesias- 
tical polity  of  the  primitive  Christians,  and  to  their  rights  of 
religious  worship,  concur  in  the  representation,  that  they  were 
conducted  with  the  utmost  simplicity;  and  in  total  contrast, 

"  On  this  whole  subject,  Corap.  Augusti,  DenkwOrdigkeiten,  Vol. 
V.  S.  88—134. 


332  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

both  with  the  formalities  of  the  ancient  Mosaic  ritual,  and  with 
the  various  forms  of  Episcopal  worship  and  government,  which 
vs^ere  subsequently  introduced.!^  The  men  of  those  days  all 
accounted  themselves  the  priests  of  God;  and  each,  accord- 
ing to  his  ability,  claimed  the  liberty,  not  only  to  teach  and 
to  exhort,  but  even  to  administer  the  ordinances.  All  this  is 
explicitly  asserted  in  the  commentary  upon  Eph.  4:  11, 
which  is  ascribed  to  Hilary  of  Rome,  about  A.  D.  360.  "  Af- 
ter churches  were  everywhere  established,  and  ecclesiastical 
orders  settled,  the  policy  pursued  was  different  from  that  which 
at  first  prevailed.  Format  firat,  all  were  accustomed  to  teach 
and  to  baptize,  each  on  every  day  alike,  as  he  had  occasion. 
Philip  sought  no  particular  day  or  occasion  in  which  to  bap- 
tize the  eunuch,  neither  did  he  interpose  any  season  of  fast- 
ing. Neither  did  Paul  and  Silas  delay  the  baptism  of  the 
jailor  and  all  his  house.  Peter  had  the  assistance  of  no  dea- 
cons, nor  did  he  seek  for  any  particular  day,  in  which  to  bap- 
tize Cornelius  and  his  household.  He  did  not  even  adminis- 
ter the  baptism  himself,  but  entrusted  this  duty  to  the  breth- 
ren, who  had  come  with  him  from  Joppa  ;  as  yet  there  were 
no  deacons,  save  the  seven  who  had  been  appointed.  That 
the  disciples  might  increase  and  multiply,  all,  in  the  begin- 
ning, were  permitted  to  preach,  to  baptize,  and  to  expound 
the  Scriptures.  But  when  Christianity  became  widely  ex- 
tended, small  assemblies  were  formed,  and  rectors  and  presi- 
dents were  appointed  ;  and  other  offices  were  instituted  in  the 
church.  No  one  presumed  without  ordination  to  assume  the 
office  of  the  clergy.  The  writings  of  the  apostles  do  not,  in 
all  respects,  accord  with  the  existing  state  of  things  in  the 
church ;  because  these  things  were  written  at  the  time  of  the 
first  organization  of  the  churchJ'^^ 

This  passage  asserts  the  free  and  unrestrained  liberty  which 

12  Comp.  Schoene,  Geschichtsforschungen,  I.  S.  91 — 132. 
1^  Comment,  ad  Eph.  4:  11.     Ambros.  Opera,  Vol.  III. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  333 

all,  at  first,  enjoyed  in  instructing  and  exhorting ;  and  in  ad- 
ministering the  ordinances  and  the  government  of  the  church. 
There  is  a  passage  in  Tertullian,  also,  indicative  of  the  same 
absence  of  prescribed  form  and  regularity.  ''After  the  read- 
ing of  the  Scriptures,  psalms  are  sung,  or  addresses  are 
made,  or  prayers  are  offered. "i4  All  is  unsettled.  The  ex- 
ercises are  freely  varied,  according  to  circumstances.  This 
absence  of  all  established  forms,  and  the  universal  enjoyment 
of  religious  liberty  and  equality,  was,  indeed,  sometimes  mis- 
understood and  abused,  as  we  have  seen,  even  by  the  church- 
es to  whom  the  apostle  writes ;  and  yet  it  was  far  from  offer- 
ing any  encouragement  to  the  disorders  and  extravagances  of 
fanaticism.  Observe,  for  example,  the  following  upbraidings 
of  such  irregularities  by  Tertullian  :  "I  must  not  fail  to  de- 
scribe, in  this  place,  the  religious  deportment  of  these  here- 
tics ;  how  unseemly,  how  earthly,  how  carnal ;  without  grav- 
ity, without  respect,  without  discipline; — how  inconsistent 
with  their  religious  belief.  Especially,  it  is  wholly  uncertain 
who  may  be  a  catechumen ;  who  a  Christian  professor.  They 
all  assemble  and  sit  promiscuously  as  hearers;  and  pray  in- 
discriminately. How  impudent  are  the  women  of  these  her- 
etics, who  presume  to  teach,  to  dispute,  to  exorcise,  to  prac- 
tise magic  arts  upon  the  sick  ;  and,  perhaps  even  to  baptize. 
Their  elections  to  offices  in  the  church  are  hasty,  inconside- 
rate, and  irregular.  At  one  time  they  elect  neophytes ;  at 
another,  men  of  the  world ;  and  then  apostates  from  us,  that 
they  may,  at  least,  gain  such  by  honor,  if  not  by  the  truth.  No- 
where is  promotion  easier  than  in  the  camps  of  rebels,  where 
one's  prci^ence  is  a  sure  passport  to  preferment.  According- 
ly, one  is  bishop,  to-day ;  to-morrow,  another ;  to-day,  a  dea- 
con ;  to-morrow,  a  reader ;  and  he  who  is  now  a  presbyter, 
to-morrow,  will  be  again  a  layman. "^^ 

'*  Jam  vero  prout  Scripturae  leguntur,  aut  psalmi  canuntur,  aut 
adlocutiones  proferuntur,  aut  petitiones  delegantur. — De  Anima^  c.  9. 
^*  De  Fraescriptionibus  Haeret.  c.  41. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

In  relation  to  this  passage,  which  Neander  quotes  at  length, 
he  offers  the  following  remarks;  and  we  commend  them  to 
the  attentive  consideration  of  the  reader.  "  We  here  see  the 
operations  of  two  conflicting  parties,  one  of  which  regards 
the  original  organization  of  the  apostolical  churches,  as  a  di- 
vine institution,  and  an  abiding  ordinance  in  the  church,  es- 
sential to  the  spread  of  a  pure  Christianity.  The  other,  which 
contends  for  an  unrestrained  freedom  in  all  external  matters, 
opposes  these  views,  as  foreign  to  the  freedom  and  simplicity 
which  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  encourages.  It  denies  that 
the  kingdom  of  God,  itself  inward,  unseen,  can  need  any  out- 
ward organization  for  the  support  and  spread  of  that  kingdom. 
It  contends  that  all  Christians  belong  to  the  priesthood; 
and  this  it  would  practically  exemplify,  by  allowing  no  es- 
tablished distinction  between  the  clergy  and  the  laity ;  but 
permitting  all,  in  common,  to  teach,  and  to  administer  the 
sacraments ; — two  parties,  which  we  often  see  opposed  to  each 
other,  in  the  subsequent  history  of  the  church.  One  of  them 
lays  great  stress  upon  the  outward  organization  of  the  visible 
church,  by  not  suitably  distinguishing  between  what  may  be 
a  divine  institution  and  what  a  human  ordinance ;  the  other, 
holds  the  doctrine  of  an  invisible  kingdom ;  but  overlooking 
the  necessities  of  weak  minds,  which  are  incapable  of  form- 
ing conceptions  of  objects  so  spiritual,  rejects  with  abhorrence 
all  such  ordinances."  16 

V.  The  use  of  forms  of  prayer  was  unknown  in  the  primi- 
tive church. 

The  apostolical  fathers,  Clement  and  Polycarp,  give  us  no 
information  concerning  their  modes  of  worship  in  the  age  im- 
mediately succeeding  that  of  the  apostles.  The  circum- 
stances of  their  meeting  in  secresy,  and  under  cover  of  the 
latest  hours  of  the  night,  together  with  other  inconveniences, 
must,  it  should  seem,  be  very  unfavorable  to  the  use  of  a  liturgy, 

16  Antagonisticus,  pp.  340,  341.     1825. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  335 

or  any  form  of  prayer.  Tertullian  and  Eusebius  represent  the 
primitive  Christians,  of  whom  Pliny  speaks,  to  have  come  to- 
gether, ad  canendum  Christo,  to  sing  praise  to  Christ. 

We  are  left,  then,  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  apostolical 
churches  neither  used  any  forms  of  prayer,  nor  is  such  use 
authorized  by  divine  authority.  In  this  conclusion  we  are 
sustained  by  various  considerations,  drawn  from  the  foregoing 
views  of  the  simplicity  of  primitive  worship. 

1.  The  supposition  of  a  form  of  prayer  is  opposed  to  that 
simplicity,  freedom  of  speech,  and  absence  of  all  formalities, 
which  characterized  the  worship  of  these  early  Christians. 

In  nothing,  perhaps,  was  the  worship  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion more  strikingly  opposed  to  that  of  the  Jewish,  than  in 
these  particulars.  The  one  was  encumbered  with  a  burden- 
some ritual,  and  celebrated,  with  many  imposing  formalities, 
by  a  priesthood  divinely  constituted,  whose  rank,  and  grades 
of  office,  and  duties,  were  defined  with  great  minuteness,  and 
observed  with  cautious  precision.  The  other  prescribed  no 
ritual ;  designated  no  unchanging  order  of  the  priesthood  ; 
but,  simply  directing  that  all  things  should  be  done  decently 
and  in  order,  permitted  all  to  join  in  the  worship  of  God,  with 
unrestrained  freedom,  simplicity,  and  singleness  of  heart. 
The  one,  requires  the  worshipper  to  come  with  awful  rever- 
ence; and,  standing  afar  off,  to  present  his  offering  to  the 
appointed  priest,  who,  alone,  is  permitted  to  bring  it  near  to 
God.  The  other,  invites  the  humble  worshipper  to  draw  near 
in  the  full  assurance  of  faith ;  and  leaning  on  the  bosom  of 
the  Father  with  the  confiding  spirit  of  a  little  child,  to  utter 
his  whole  heart  in  the  ear  of  parental  love  and  tenderness. 
Is  it  not  contrary,  then,  to  the  economy  of  this  gracious  dis- 
pensation, to  trammel  the  spirit  of  this  little  child  with  a  stu- 
died form  of  speech ;  to  chill  the  fervor  of  his  soul  by  the  cold 
dictations  of  another ;  and  require  him  to  give  utterance  to 
the  struggling  emotions  of  his  heart,  in  language,  to  him,  un- 
congenial 1     Does  it  comport  with  the  genius  of  primitive 


336  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Christianity,  to  lay  upon  the  suppliant,  in  audience  with  his 
Father  in  heaven,  the  restraints  of  courtly  formalities  and  the 
studied  proprieties  of  premeditated  prayer?  The  artlessness 
and  simplicity  of  primitive  worship  afford  a  strong  presumption 
in  favor  of  free,  extemporaneous  prayer. 

2.  This  presumption  is  strengthened  by  the  example  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  all  of  whose  prayers,  so  far  as  they 
are  recorded,  or  the  circumstances  related  under  which  they 
were  offered,  were  strictly  extemporaneous. 

This  argument  has  been  already  duly  considered,  and 
may  be  dismissed  without  further  expansion  in  this  place. 

3.  We  conclude  that  no  forms  of  prayer  were  authorized 
or  required  in  the  apostolical  churches,  because  no  instruc- 
tions to  this  effect  are  given  either  by  Christ  or  the  apostles. 

The  Lord's  prayer,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  not  a 
prescribed  form  of  prayer,  neither  was  it  in  use  in  the  apos- 
tolical churches ;  nor  are  any  intimations  given  in  the  New 
Testament  of  any  form  of  prayer,  prayer-book,  or  ritual  of 
any  kind,  unless  the  response,  to  which  allusion  is  made  in 
1  Cor.  14 :  16,  be  considered  as  such.  Here,  then,  is  a 
clear  omission,  and  manifestly  designed  to  show  that  God 
did  not  purpose  to  give  any  instructions  respecting  the  man- 
ner in  which  we  are  to  offer  to  him  our  prayers.  This  ar- 
gument from  the  omissions  of  Scripture  is  presented  with 
great  force  by  Archbishop  Whately,  in  support  of  the  opin- 
ion which  we  here  offer,  and  we  shall  accordingly  adopt  his 
language  to  express  it. 

After  asserting  that  the  sacred  writers  were  supernatural- 
ly  withheld  from  recording  some  things,  he  adds  :  "  On  no 
supposition,  whatever,  can  we  account  for  the  omission,  by 
all  of  them,  of  many  points  which  they  do  omit,  and  of  their 
scanty  and  slight  mention  of  others,  except  by  considering 
them  as  withheld  by  the  express  design  and  will  (whether 
communicated  to  each  of  them  or  not)  of  their  heavenly 
Master,  restraining  them  from  committing  to  writing  many 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  337 

things   which,  naturally,  some  or  other  of  them,  at  leasts 
would  not  have  failed  so  to  record. 

**  We  seek  in  vain  there  for  many  things  which,  humanljr 
speaking,  we  should  have  most  surely  calculated  on  findings 
*  No  such  thing  is  to  be  found  in  our  Scriptures  as  a  Cate- 
chism, or  regular  elementary  introduction  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion ;  neither  do  they  furnish  us  with  anything  of  the  na- 
ture of  a  systematic  creed,  set  of  articles,  confession  of  faith,, 
or  by  whatever  other  name  one  may  designate  a  regular,, 
complete  compendium  of  Christian  doctrines  :  nor  again  do 
they  supply  us  with  a  liturgy  for  ordinary  public  worship,  or 
with  forms  for  administering  the  sacraments,  or  for  confer-- 
ring  holy  orders  ;  nor  do  they  even  give  any  precise  directions 
as  to  these  and  other  ecclesiastical  matters  ;■ — anything  that 
at  all  corresponds  to  a  rubric,  or  set  of  canons.' 

"  Now  these  omissions  present  a  complete  moral  demon- 
stration that  the  apostles  and  their  followers  must  have  been 
super  naturally  withheld  from  recording  a  great  part  of  the 
institutions,  and  regulations,  which  must,  in  point  of  fact, 
have  proceeded  from  them  ; — withheXdi,  on  purpose  that  other 
churches,  in  other  ages  and  regions,  might  not  be  led  to  con- 
sider themselves  bound  to  adhere  to  several  formularies,  cus- 
toms, and  rules,  that  were  of  local  and  temporary  appointment ; 
but  might  be  left  to  their  own  discretion  in  matters  in  which 
it  seemed  best  to  divine  wisdom  that  they  should  be  so  left."'''' 

4.  No  form  of  prayer,  liturgy,  or  ritual,  was  recorded  or 
preserved  by  the  contemporaries,  inspired  or  uninspired,  of 
the  apostles,  or  by  their  immediate  successors. 

This  consideration  is  nearly  allied  to  the  former,  and  is 
so  forcibly  urged  by  Archbishop  Whately,  that  we  shall 
again  present  the  argument  in  his  own  words.  "  It  was,  in- 
deed, not  at  all  to  be  expected  that  the  Gospels,  the  Acts, 
and  those  Epistles  which  have  come  down  to  us,  should  have 

17  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp.  82,  83. 
29 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


been,  considering  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
written,  anything  different  from  what  they  are :  but  the 
question  still  recurs,  why  should  not  the  apostles  or  their  fol- 
lowers have  also  committed  to  paper,  what,  we  are  sure, 
must  have  been  perpetually  in  their  mouths,  regular  instruc- 
tions to  catechumens,  articles  of  faith,  prayers,  and  direc- 
tions as  to  public  worship,  and  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments ?  Why  did  none  of  them  record  any  of  the  prayers, 
of  which  they  must  have  heard  so  many  from  an  apostle's 
mouth,  both  in  the  ordinary  devotional  assemblies,  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments,  and  in  the  '  laying  on  of 
hands,'  by  which  they  themselves  had  been  ordained  V'^^ 

The  superstitious  reverence  of  the  early  Christians  for 
such  productions  as  had  been  obtained  from  the  apos- 
tles and  their  contemporaries,  is  apparent  from  the  nu- 
merous forgeries  of  epistles,  liturgies,  etc.,  which  were  pub- 
lished under  their  name.  Had  any  genuine  liturgies  of  the 
apostolical  churches  been  written,  it  is  inconceivable,  that 
they  should  all  have  been  lost,  and  such  miserable  forgeries  as 
those  of  James,  Peter,  Andrew,  and  Mark,  have  been  substitu- 
ted in  their  place.  Some  discovery  must  have  been  made  of 
these,  among  other  religious  books  and  sacred  things  of  ihe 
Christians,  which  in  times  of  persecution  were  diligently 
sought  out  and  burned.  Strict  inquiry  was  made  after  such  ; 
and  their  sacred  books,  and  sacramental  utensils,  their  cups, 
lamps,  torches,  vestments,  and  other  apparatus  of  the  church 
were  often  delivered  up,  and  burnt  or  destroyed.  But  there 
is  no  instance  on  record,  of  any  form  of  prayer,  liturgy,  or 
book  of  divine  service  having  been  discovered,  in  the  early 
persecutions  of  the  church.  This  fact  is  so  extraordinary, 
that  Bingham,  who  earnestly  contends  for  the  use  of  liturgies 
from  the  beginning,  is  constrained  to  admit,  that  they  could 
not  have  been  committed  to  writing  in  the  early  periods  of 
the  church,  but  must  have  been  preserved  by  oral  tradition, 

18  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp.  252,  253. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  339 

and  used  "  by  memory,  and  made  familiar  by  known  and 
constant  practice."^^  The  reader  has  his  alternative,  be- 
tween this  supposition,  and  that  of  no  liturgy  or  prescribed 
form  of  prayer  in  those  days  of  primitive  simplicity.  Con- 
stantine  took  special  care  to  have  fifty  copies  of  the  Bible 
prepared  for  the  use  of  the  churches,  and,  by  a  royal  com- 
mission, entrusted  Eusebius,  the  historian,  with  the  duty  of 
procuring  them.^o  How  is  it,  that  the  service-book  was  en- 
tirely omitted  in  this  provision  for  the  worship  of  God? 
Plainly  because  they  then  used  none. 

5.  The  earliest  fathers,  in  defending  the  usages  of  the 
church,  and  deciding  controversies,  make  no  appeal  to  litur- 
gies, but  only  to  tradition. 

"  For  these,  and  other  rites  of  a  like  character,"  says  Tur- 
tullian,  in  speaking  of  the  ceremonies  of  baptism  and  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  "  for  these,  if  you  seek  the  authority  of  Scrip- 
ture, you  will  find  none.  Tradition  is  your  authority,  con- 
firmed by  custom  and  faithfully  observed."2i  But  these 
should  have  a  place  in  a  liturgy.  Cyprian  advocates  the 
mingling  of  water  with  wine,  at  the  Lord's  supper,  by  an  ap- 
peal to  tradition,  without  any  reference  to  the  liturgy  of 
James.22 

Firmilian,  his  contemporary,  admits,  that  the  church  at 
Rome  did  not  strictly  observe  all  things  which  may  have 
been  delivered  at  the  beginning,  "  so  that  it  was  vain  even  to 
allege  the  authority  of  the  apostles. "23 

Basil  is  even  more  explicit.  After  mentioning  several 
things  which  are  practised  in  the  church  without  scriptural 
authority,  such  as  the  sign  of  the  cross,  praying  towards  the 

19  Antiq.  Book  13,  c.  5. 

20  Euscb.  Vit.  Constant.  Lib.  4.  36. 

21  Harum  et  aliarum  hujusmodi  disciplinarum  si  legem,  expostules 
scripturarum,  nullam  invenies.  Traditio  tibi  praetenditur  autrix, 
consuetudo  confirmatrix,  fides  observatrix. — De  Corona  Mil.  c.  4. 

22  Ep.  ad  Caecil.  p.  104. 

23  Ep.  ad  Cyprian,  inter  Ep.  Cyp.  75,  p.  144. 


340  THE  PRI3IITIVE  CHURCH. 

east,  and  the  form  of  invocation  in  the  consecration  of  the 
elements,  he  proceeds  to  say,  "  We  do  not  content  ourselves 
with  vi^hat  the  apostle  or  the  gospel  may  have  carefully  re- 
corded ;  with  these  we  are  not  satisfied  ;  but  we  have  much  to 
say  before  and  after  the  ordinance,  derived  from  instructions 
which  have  never  been  written,  as  having  great  efficacy  in 
these  mysteries."  Among  these  unwritten  and  unauthorized 
rites,  he  enumerates  afterwards  the  consecration  of  the  bap- 
tismal water.  "  From  what  writings,  ano  ttolcov  lyyQacpaVy' 
he  asks,  "  comes  this  formulary  ?  They  have  none ;  nothing 
but  silent  and  secret  tradition. "^4 

From  the  fact,  that  the  appeal  is  only  to  tradition,  we  con- 
clude, with  Du  Pin  and  others,  that  the  apostles  neither  au- 
thorized, nor  left  behind  them  any  prescribed  form  of  worship 
or  liturgy. 

6.  That  simplicity  in  worship,  which  continued  for  some 
time  after  the  age  of  the  apostles,  forbids  the  supposition  of 
the  use  of  liturgical  forms. 

We  return  now  to  the  second  and  third  centuries,  and, 
from  the  testimonies,  particularly  of  Justin  Martyr  and  Ter- 
tullian,  we  learn,  that  the  worship  of  the  Christian  church,  at 
this  period,  continued  to  be  conducted  in  primitive  simplici- 
ty, without  agenda,  liturgy  or  forms  of  prayer. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Apology  in  behalf  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, which  he  presented  to  the  Roman  emperor,  Antoninus 
Pius,  about  A.  D.  138,  or  139,^5  gives  a  detailed  account  of 
the  prevailing  mode  of  celebrating  the  ordinances  of  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  supper  in  the  Christian  church,  in  which  he 
repeatedly  mentions  the  prayers  which  are  offered  in  these 
solemnities.  "  After  baptizing  the  believer,  and  making  him 
one  with  us,  we  conduct  him  to  the  brethren,  as  they  are  called, 
where  they  are  assembled,  fervently  to  offer  their  common  sup- 
plications for  themselves,  for  him  who  has  been  illuminated,  and 

2^  De  Spiritu  Sancto,  c.  27. 

25  Justin  Martyr,  by  C.  Semisch,  Vol.  I.  p.  72.     Trans.  Ed.  1843. 


PRAYERS  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  341 

for  all  men  everywhere;  that  we  may  live  worthy  of  the  truth 
which  we  have  learned,  and  be  found  to  have  kept  the  command- 
ments, so  that  we  may  be  saved  with  an  everlasting  salvation. 
After  prayer,  we  salute  one  another  with  a  kiss.  After  this, 
bread,  and  a  cup  of  wine  and  water  are  brought  to  the  president, 
which  he  takes,  and  offers  up  praise  and  glory  to  the  Father 
of  all  things,  through  the  name  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  gives  thanks  that  we  are  accounted  worthy  of 
these  things.  When  he  has  ended  the  prayers  and  the 
thanksgiving,  all  the  people  present  respond,  amen  !  which,  in 
Hebrew,  signifies,  so  may  it  be." 

The  description  above  given,  relates  to  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  supper  when  baptism  was  administered.  In  the  follow- 
ing extract,  Justin  describes  the  ordinary  celebration  of  the 
supper  on  the  Lord's  day.  "  On  the  day  called  Sunday,  we 
all  assemble  together,  both  those  who  reside  in  the  country, 
and  they  who  dwell  in  the  city,  and  the  commentaries  of  the 
apostles  and  the  writings  of  the  prophets  are  read  as  long  as 
time  permits.  When  the  reader  has  ended,  the  president,  in 
an  address,  makes  an  application,  and  enforces  an  imitation 
of  the  excellent  things  which  have  been  read.  Then  we  all 
stand  up  together j  and  offer  up  our  prayers.  After  our 
prayers,  as  I  have  said,  bread  and  wine  and  water  are  brought, 
and  the  president,  in  like  manner,  offers  prayers  and  thanks- 
givings, according  to  his  ability ^  oari  8vva[iig  avT(^,  and  the 
people  respond,  saying  Amen  !"26 

Justin,  according  to  Eusebius,27  wrote  his  Apologies  at 
Rome.      He  was  personally   acquainted  with  most  of  the 
principal  churches  in  every  land.     Whether  we  regard  this 
as  descriptive  of  the  usage  of  the  church  at  Rome,  or  of  the 
churches  generally  it  is  peculiarly  gratifying  to  learn,  from  a 
witness  so  unexceptionable,  that  the  church  in  his  time  con- 
tinued still  to  worship  God  in  all  the  simplicity  of  the  prim- 
es Apol.  1,  61, 65,  67,  pp.  71,  82, 83.    See  above,  168. 
27  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  4.  c.  11. 
29* 


342  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

itive  disciples.  They  meet  as  brethren  in  Christ ;  they  ex- 
change still  the  apostolical  salutation,  the  kiss  of  charity; 
the  Scriptures  are  read,  and  the  president  or  pastor  makes 
a  familiar  address,  enforcing  the  practical  duties  which  have 
been  presented  in  the  reading;  a  prayer  is  offered  in  the 
consecration  of  the  sacred  elements,  in  which  the  suppliant 
prays  according  to  his  ability,  following  only  the  suggestions 
of  his  own  heart,  without  any  form ;  after  this,  they  re- 
ceive the  bread  and  the  wine  in  remembrance  of  Christ.  All 
is  done  in  the  affectionate  confidence,  the  simplicity,  and 
singleness  of  heart  of  the  primitive  disciples.28 

The  testimony  of  Justin,  however,  is  claimed  on  both 
sides.  The  whole  controversy  hinges  on  that  vexed  passage, 
oari  8vvaiiig  avzco.  The  congregation  all  stood  up,  and  the 
president  prayed,  067}  dvvafiig  av7(^,  according  to  his  ahility. 
Some  understand  by  this  phrase,  that  he  prayed  with  as  loud 
u  voice  as  he  could ;  the  very  mention  of  which  interpreta- 
tion is  its  sufficient  refutation  :  cujus  mentio  est  ejus  refuta- 
tio.  Others  translate  it,  with  all  the  ardor  and  fervency  of 
his  soul. 

Such  are  the  interpretations  of  those  who  contend  for  the 
use  of  a  liturgy  in  the  primitive  church.  On  the  other  hand, 
Justin  is  understood  to  say,  that  the  president  prayed  as  well 
as  he  could,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  or  as  Tertullian  says, 
"  ex  propria  ingenio"  If  this  be  the  true  meaning,  it  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  prayers  offered  on  this  occasion 
were  strictly  extemporaneous.  This  is  the  interpretation, 
not  only  of  non-conformists  generally,  but  of  some  church- 
men. It  is  the  only  fair  interpretation  of  the  phrase,  accord- 
ing to  the  usus  loquendi  of  this  author. 

The  same  expression  occurs  in  other  passages  of  our  au- 
thor, which  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  sense  in  which  he 
uses  this  equivocal  phrase.     "  We,  who  worship  the  Ruler 

^  Comp.  Schoene,  Geschichtsforschungen  der  Kirch.  Gebrauche, 
1.  S.  102, 103. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  343 

of  the  Universe,  are  not  atheists.  We  affirm,  as  we  are 
taught,  that  he  has  no  need  of  blood,  libations  and  incense. 
But,  with  supplication  and  thanksgivings,  we  praise  him  ac- 
cording to  our  ability,  oai]  dvva^ig,  for  all  which  we  enjoy, 
iqp'  oig  TtQoacpSQOfis&a  TtdaiVj  having  learned  that,  worthily 
to  honor  him  is,  not  to  consume  in  fire  by  sacrifice  what  he 
has  provided  for  our  sustenance,  but  to  bestow  it  upon  our- 
selves and  upon  the  needy,  to  show  ourselves  thankful  to  him 
by  invocations  and  hymns  for  our  birth,  our  health,  and  all 
that  he  has  made;  and  for  the  vicissitudes  of  the  season."29 

The  Catholic  and  Episcopal  rendering  of  this  passage 
makes  the  author  say,  that,  in  all  our  sufferings,  Icp  olg 
TtQocqjEQo^ed-a  Ttaaiv,  we  praise  him,  oari  dvva(iig,  with  the 
utmost  fervency  of  devotion.  This,  however,  is  a  mistaken 
rendering  of  the  verb,  TiQoacpeQOfiaif  which,  in  the  middle  voice 
means  not  to  offer  in  sacrifice,  or  to  worship,  but  to  partici- 
pate, to  enjoi/.  So  it  is  rendered  by  Scapula,  Hedericus, 
Bretschneider,  Passow,  etc.  The  passage  relates,  not  to  an 
act  of  sacrifice,  nor  of  public  worship,  as  the  connection  shows, 
but  to  deeds  of  piety  towards  God,  and  of  benevolence  to  men, 
done  according  to  their  ability ;  by  which  means  they  offer- 
ed the  best  refutation  of  the  groundless  calumnies  of  their  en- 
emies, who  had  charged  them  with  an  atheistical  neglect  of 
the  gods.  The  declaration  is,  that  for  all  their  blessings  they 
express,  according  to  their  ability,  thanksgivings  to  God,  and 
testify  their  gratitude  by  deeds  of  charity  to  their  fellow-men. 

"  Having,  therefore,  exhorted  you,  oat]  dvvafiig,  according 
to  our  ability,  both  by  reason,  and  a  visible  sign  or  figure,  we 
know  that  we  shall  henceforth  be  blameless  if  you  do  not  be- 
lieve, for  we  have  done  what  we  could  for  your  conversion,"^^ 
He  had  done  what  he  could ;  by  various  efforts  of  argu- 
ment and  exhortation,  and  by  visible  signs  he  had  labored  ac- 
cording to  his  ability,  to  bring  them  to  receive  the  truth. 
The  exhortation  was  the  free  expression  of  his  heart's  desire 

»  Apol.  1.  c.  13.  pp.  50,  51.        30  Apol.  1.  c.  55,  p.  77. 


344  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

for  their  conversion.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  phrase 
denotes  the  same  freedom  of  expression  in  prayer?  These 
passages  appear  to  us  clearly  to  illustrate  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase  in  question  as  used  by  our  author,  and  to  justify  our  in- 
terpretation.3i 

If  one  desires  further  satisfaction  on  this  point,  he  has  on- 
ly to  turn  to  the  works  of  Origen,  in  which  this  and  similar 
forms  of  expression  are  continually  occurring,  to  denote  the  in- 
vention, ability,  and  powers  of  the  mind.  Origen  in  his  reply 
to  the  calumnies  of  Celsus,  proposes  to  refute  them,  "accord- 
ing to  his  ability."32  In  his  preface,  he  has  apologized  for  the 
Christians  "  as  well  as  he  could. "33  These  Christians  sought, 
"  as  much  as  possible,"  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  church.3* 
They  strove  to  discover  the  hidden  meaning  of  God's  word, 
"  according  to  the  best  of  their  abilities.''^^  in  these  instances 
the  reference  is  not  to  the  fervor  of  the  spirits,  the  ardor  of  the 
mind,  but  to  the  exercise  of  the  mental  powers.  The  act  per- 
formed is  done  according  to  the  ingenuity,  the  talents  of  the 
agents  in  each  case. 

Basil,  in  giving  instructions  how  to  pray,  advises  to  make 
choice  of  scriptural  forms  of  thanksgiving,  and  when  you  have 
praised  him  thus,  according  to  your  ability,  wg  dvvaaai,  ex- 
actly equivalent  to  dvva^ig, — then  he  advises  the  suppliant 
to  proceed  to  petitions.36      The  Greeks  and  the  Romans  pray 

3^  Comp.  King,  in  the  author's  Antiquities,  pp.  213 — 215.     Note. 

^^  "OoT]  Svvafiig^  Lib.  6.  §  1.  Vol.  I.  p.  694,  so  also,  xard  to  Svvarov, 
§  12.  p.  638. 

3^  Kard  r^v  TtaQovaav  ^vva^iiv,  Praef.  Lib.  contr.  Cel. 

34  ''Oat]  dvvafiig,  Contr.  Cel.  Lib.  3.  Vol.  1.  p.  482. 

3^  Lib.  6.  §  2.  p.  630.  Comp.  also  in  Comment,  in  Math,  oat]  Sv~ 
vafice,  Tom.  17.  Vol.  HI.  p.  809,  natd  to  Svvarov,  Tom.  16.  Vol.  III. 
p.  735,  Hard  Svvafiiv,  Tom.  17.  Vol.  IlL  p.  779,  also  Vol.  IV.  p.  6. 
viard  TTJv  naQovoav  Svvafiiv,  Tom.  17.  Vol.  111.  p.  794. 

Since  writing  the  above,  Clarkson's  Discourse  on  Liturgies  has 
fallen  under  our  notice,  in  which  many  other  passages  are  given  from 
Justin,  Origen,  Chrysostom,  Basil,  etc.,  all  illustrating  the  same  use 
of  the  phrase,  pp.  68— 73, 114— 121. 

36  Basil,  De  Ascet.,  Vol.  II.  p.  536. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIJVIITIVE  CHURCH.  345 

each  in  their  own  language,  according  to  Origen,  and  each 
praises  God  as  he  is  able.^'^  But  enough  has  been  said  upon 
this  point,  and  the  reader  may  safely  be  left  to  his  own  con- 
clusions. 

We  come  next  to  Tertullian.  "  We  Christians  pray  with 
eyes  uplifted,  with  hands  outspread,  with  head  uncovered; 
and,  .  .  without  a  monitor,  because  from  the  heart  "^^  Can 
this  be  the  manner  of  one  praying  from  a  prayer-book? 
Clarkson  has  shown,  with  his  usual  clearness,  that  the  hea- 
then worshipped  by  ritual, .  .  and  rehearsed  their  prayers  from 
a  book  ;  and  that  Tertullian  says  this  to  contrast  the  Chris- 
tian mode  of  worship  with  these  heartless  forms.  These 
warm-hearted  Christians  needed  no  such  promptings  to  give 
utterance  to  their  devotions.  Out  of  the  abundance  of  the 
heart  the  mouth  speaketh. 

Again,  "  When  the  sacramental  supper  is  ended,  and  we 
have  washed  our  hands,  and  the  candles  are  lighted,  every 
one  is  invited  to  sing  unto  God,  as  he  is  able ;  either  in  psalms 
collected  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  composed  by  himself, 
de  propria  ingenio.  And  as  we  began,  so  we  conclude  all 
with  prayer."39 

From  Tertullian  we  have  the  earliest  information  respect- 
ing the  religious  ordinances  of  the  churches  in  Africa.  The 
reader  will  not  fail  to  notice,  that  this  church  also  retains  still 
the  simplicity  of  the  apostolical  churches,  mingled  with  some 
Roman  customs.  The  brethren  form  a  similar  fraternity. 
Their  religious  worship  opens  with  prayer,  after  which  the 
Scriptures  are  read,  and  familiar  remarks  are  offered  upon 
them.  Then  follows  the  sacramental  supper,  or  more  properly 
the  love-feast  of  the  primitive  church,  which  they  begin  with 
prayer.     After  the  supper,  any  one  is  invited  to  offer  a  sa- 

'^  oJff  Svvarai,  Origen,  Contra  Cels.  Lib.  8.  c.  37.  p.  769. 

^^  Illuc  sursum  suspicientes  Christian!  manibus  expansis,  quia  in- 
nocuis,  capite  nudo,  quia  erubescimus  ;  denique  sine  monitore,  quia 
de  pectore  oramus. — jjpol.  c.  30. 

39  Apol.  c.  39. 


346 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


cred  song,  either  from  the  Scriptures,  or  indited  by  himself. 
And  the  whole  ends  with  prayer.  The  entire  narrative  indi- 
cates a  free,  informal  mode  of  worship,  as  far  removed  from 
that  which  is  directed  by  the  agenda  and  rituals  of  liturgical 
worship  as  can  well  be  conceived. 

In  the  same  connection,  Tertullian  also  forcibly  illustrates 
the  sincerity  and  purity  of  this  primitive  worship.  Speaking 
of  the  subjects  of  their  prayers,  he  says,  "  These  blessings  I 
cannot  persuade  myself  to  ask  of  any  but  of  him,  from  whom 
alone  I  know  that  I  can  obtain  them.  For  he  only  can  be- 
stow them.  And  to  me  he  has  covenanted  to  grant  them. 
For  I  am  his  servant  and  him  only  do  I  serve.  For  this  ser- 
vice I  stand  exposed  to  death,  while  I  offer  to  him  the  noblest 
and  best  sacrifice  which  he  requires, — prayer iwocecding  from 
a  chaste  body,  an  innocent  soul,  and  a  sanctified  spirit."'^^ 
Beautiful  exemplification  of  the  words  of  our  Lord  to  the  wo- 
man of  Samaria,  "  Believe  me,  the  hour  cometh,  when  ye 
shall  neither  in  the  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship 
the  Father.  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  John  4:  21,  24. 

The  authority  of  Tertullian  is  against  the  supposition  that 
the  primitive  churches  used  forms  of  prayer.  "  We  pray," 
says  he,  "  without  a  monitor ,  because  from  the  heart,"  sine 
monitore  quia  depectore.  Much  ingenuity  has  been  employed 
to  reconcile  this  expression  with  the  use  of  a  prayer-book,  but 
viewed  in  connection  with  the  freedom  and  simplicity  in 
which  worship  was  at  that  time  conducted,  its  real  import 
is  sufficiently  obvious.  He  justifies,  indeed,  the  use  of  the 
Lord's  prayer ;  but  seems  to  intimate  that  to  God  alone  be- 
longs the  right  of  prescribing  forms  of  prayer.  "  God  alone," 
says  he,  *'  can  teach  us  how  he  would  be  addressed  in  prayer." 
But,  he  adds,  "  our  Lord,  who  foresaw  the  necessities  of  men, 
after  he  had  delivered  this  form  of  prayer,  said  '  Ask  and  ye 
shall  receive ;'  and  there  are  some  things  which  need  to  be 

40  Apol.  c.  30. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  347 

asked,  according  to  every  one's  circumstances ;  the  rightful  and 
ordinary  being  first  used  as  a  foundation,  we  may  lawfully  add 
other  occasional  desires,  and  make  this  the  basis  of  other  pe- 
titions."4i 

From  this  passage  it  appears  that  their  manner  was,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  to  repeat  the  Lord's  prayer  as 
the  basis  and  pattern  of  all  appropriate  prayer  to  God,  and 
then  to  enlarge  in  free,  unpremeditated  supplications,  accord- 
ing to  their  circumstances  and  desires. 

There  is  another  circumstance  mentioned  above  by  Ter- 
tullian,  which  shows  how  far  the  worship  of  the  primitive 
Christians  was  at  this  time  from  being  confined  to  the  pre- 
scribed and  unvarying  formalities  of  a  ritual.  It  appears  that 
in  their  social  worship  each  was  invited  forth  to  sing  praises 
to  God,  either  from  the  holy  Scriptures,  or  "  de  propria  inge- 
nio,"  of  his  own  composing.  Grant,  if  you  please,  that  these 
sacred  songs  may  have  been  previously  composed  by  each. 
They  are  still  his  own,  and  have  to  the  hearer  all  the  novelty 
and  variety  of  a  strictly  extemporaneous  effusion.  So  he  who 
leads  in  prayer,  like  the  one  who  sings  his  song,  may  offer  a 
free  prayer  which  he  has  previously  meditated.  But  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  such  songs  may  have  been  offered  impromp- 
tu, like  the  songs  of  Moses  and  Miriam,  and  Deborah,  Sime- 
on and  Anna.  Augustine  speaks  of  such  songs,  and  ascribes 
to  divine  inspiration  the  ability  to  indite  them.  The  impro- 
visatori  of  the  present  age  are  an  example  of  the  extent  to 
which  such  gifts  may  be  cultivated  without  any  supernatural 
aid.'*2  if^  therefore,  such  freedom  was  allowed  in  their 
psalmody,  much  more  might  it  be  expected  in  their  prayers. 

7.  The  attitude  of  the  primitive  Christians  in  prayer  is 
against  the  supposition  that  they  used  a  prayer-book.  What, 
according  to  Tertullian  and  others,  was  this  attitude?     It 

41  De  Oral.  c.  9. 

42  Comp.  Walch.  De.  Hymn.  Eccl.  Apost.  §  20.  Manter,  Metr. 
Offenbar.  Pref. 


348  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

was  with  arms  raised  towards  heaven,  and  hands  outspread,43 
or,  it  was  kneeling  and  prostrate,  with  the  eyes  closed,  to  shut 
out  from  view  every  object  that  might  divert  the  mind  from 
its  devotions;  or,  as  Origen  expresses  it,  ^'  closing  the  eyes  of 
his  senses,  but  erecting  those  of  his  ?nind.''  Few  facts  in  an- 
cient history  are  better  attested  than  this.  The  coins  that 
were  struck  in  honor  of  Constantine,  represented  him  in  the 
attitude  of  prayer.  But  how?  not  with  prayer-book  in  hand, 
but,  with  hands  extended,  and  eyes  upturned,  as  if  looking  to- 
wards heaven,  cog  avco  ^XtTZeiv  doxEiv  avareranivogM 

Now  all  this,  if  not  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  use 
of  a  liturgy,  must  be  allowed  at  least  to  have  been  a  very  in- 
convenient posture,  upon  the  supposition  that  a  liturgy  was 
employed.  Can  we  suppose  that  this  attitude  would  have 
been  assumed  at  the  beginning  in  the  use  of  a  cumbersome 
roll? 

8.  We  have  yet  to  add  that  the  manner  in  which  precon- 
ceived prayers  began  to  be  used,  is  decisive  against  any  di- 
vine authority  for  their  use.  It  is  an  acknowledged  histori- 
cal fact,  that  in  the  earliest  stages  of  the  Episcopal  system, 
there  was  no  settled  and  invariable  form  of  prayer.  All  that 
was  required  was,  that  the  prayers  should  not  be  unpremedi- 
tated, but  previously  composed  and  committed  to  writing. 
Still  they  were  occasional,  and  may  have  had  all  the  variety 
and  adaptation  of  extempore  prayers.  This  fact  strikingly 
exhibits  an  intermediate  state  in  the  transition  of  the  church 
from  that  freedom  and  absence  of  forms  which  characterized 
her  earliest  and  simplest  worship,  to  the  imposing  formali- 
ties of  a  later  date.  But  it  precludes  the  supposition  that 
an  authorized  liturgy  could  have  previously  existed.'^^ 

9.  If  it   were   necessary  to  multiply   arguments   on    this 

^^  Tlluc  sursum  suspicientes  Christian!  manibus  expansis,  etc.  Ter- 
tul.  Apol.  c.  30.  Conip.  De  Oral.  c.  11.  Adv.  Marcion,  c.  23.  Clem- 
ens. Alex.  Strom.  7. 

44  Euseb.  Vit.  Const.  Lib.  c.  1.5. 

45  Comp.  Riddle's  Christ.  Antiq.  p.  370. 


PRAYERS  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  34d 

point  we  might  mention  the  secret  discipline  of  the  church 
as  evidence  against  the  use  of  a  liturgy.  This  of  itself  i» 
regarded  by  Schone  and  others,  as  conclusive  on  this  sub~ 
ject ;  a  written  and  prescribed  liturgy  being  quite  incompat- 
ible with  these  mysteries.  Basil  refused  to  give  explanations; 
in  writing  to  Miletus,  but  referred  him  to  Theophrast  for 
verbal  information,  that  so  the  mysteries  might  not  be  di~ 
vulged  by  what  he  would  have  occasion  to  write.  "  Mys- 
teries," said  Origen  also,  with  reference  to  the  same  pointy 
"  must  not  be  committed  to  writing."  The  sacramental 
prayers  and  baptismal  rites,  which  should  have  a  place  in  a 
liturgy,  were  among  these  profound  mysteries.  How  they 
could  have  been  kept  veiled  in  such  mystery,  if  recorded  in 
a  prayer-book,  is  past  our  comprehension. 

Basil,  of  the  fourth  century,  informs  us  that  he  pronounced 
the  doxology  with  varied  phraseology — that  the  baptismal 
formulary  was  unrecorded,  and  that  the  church  had  not  even 
a  written  creed  or  confession.46  Clarkson  has  shown  by  a 
multitude  of  citations,  that  the  same  is  true,  of  every  part 
of  religious  worship  which  a  liturgy  prescribes.  He  has 
also  given  many  instances  of  occasional  prayers,  which  are 
inconsistent  with  the  supposition  that  they  were  rehearsed 
from  a  prayer-book.^''' 

Finally,  the  origin  of  these  ancient  liturgies,  and  the  occa- 
sion on  which  they  were  prepared,  is  no  recommendation  of 
them. 

They  had  their  origin  in  an  ignorant  and  degenerate 
age.  Palmer  ascribes  the  four  original  liturgies,  in  which  all 
others  have  o^l^nated,  to  the  fifth  century.  He  thinks,  how- 
ever, that  some  expressions  in  one,  may  perhaps  be  traced 
to  the  fourth.     The  utmost  that  even  the  credulity  of  the  Ox- 

^  u^vTtjV  Se  ofioloyt'av  rtjg  Tri'oTSojg  6ig  rcari^qa  teal  vi'ov  ttal  ayiov- 
nvsvfia  ix  noiojv  yqafifiaTUJV  i'y^ofi^v. — Dc  Spiritu  Sancto,  c.  27.  p.  57„ 
comp.  p.  55. 

<'  Discourse  on  Liturgies. 
30 


859  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

ford  Tractarians  pretends  to  claim  in  favor  of  their  antiquity, 
is,  that  "one,  that  of  Basil,  may  be  traced  with  tolerable  cer- 
tainty to  the  fourth  century,  and  three  others  to  the  middle 
of  the  fifth."48  Ambrose,  Augustine,  Gregory,  Basil  and 
Chrysostom,  those  great  luminaries  of  the  church,  had  passed 
away,  and  an  age  of  ignorance  and  superstition  had  succeed- 
ed. Riddle  of  Oxford,  the  faithful  chronicler  of  the  church, 
gives  the  following  sketch  of  the  degeneracy  of  this  age, — 
the  close  of  the  fourth  century. 

"  Superstitious  veneration  of  martyrs  and  their  relics,  cre- 
dulous reliance  upon  their  reputed  powers  of  intercession,  re- 
ports of  miracles  and  visions  at  their  tombs,  and  other  follies 
of  this  kind,  form  a  prominent  feature  in  the  religion  of  the 
age. 

"  New  Festivals  during  this  century. — Christmas-day,  As- 
cension-day, Whitsunday  (in  the  modern  sense). 

"  Baptismal  Rites,  Ceremonies,  etc. — 1.  Wax  tapers  in  the 
hands  of  the  candidates ;  2.  Use  of  salt,  milk,  wine,  and 
honey ;  3.  Baptisteries ;  4.  Easter  and  Whitsuntide,  times  of 
baptism;  5.  Twofold  anointing,  before  and  after  baptism; 
6.  Dominica  in  Albis. 

"  The  Lord^s  Supper,  1.  was  now  commonly  called  Missa 
by  the  Latins ;  2.  Tables  had  come  into  use,  and  were  now 
called  altars  ;  3.  Liturgies  used  at  the  celebration  of  the  rite ; 
4.  Elements  still  administered  in  both  kinds  as  before  ;  5.  No 
private  masses. 

^' Rapid  progress  of  church  oligarchy,  and  formation  of 
the  patriarchate." 

Again,  A.  D.  439,  "  Christian  morality  decmks. — Two  dis- 
tinct codes  of  morals  gradually  formed,  one  for  perfect  Chris- 
tians, and  another  for  the  more  common  class  of  believers; 
— the  former  consisting  of  mysticism  and  ascetic  or  over- 
strained virtue, — the  latter  in  the  performance  of  outward 
ceremonies  and  ritual  observances.     The  distinction  itself  un- 

48  Tract,  No.  63,  Vol.  1.  p.  439. 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  351 

sound  and  mischievous ;  the  morality,  to  a  great  extent,  per- 
verted or  fictitious. 

"  History  now  records  fewer  examples  of  high  Christian 
character  than  before.  Complaints  of  the  fathers,  and  de- 
crees of  councils,  lead  us  to  fear  that  impitty  and  disorderly 
conduct  prevailed  within  the  borders  of  the  church  to  a  mel- 
ancholy extent.     Superstition  makes  rapid  progress." ^^ 

Out  of  this  age,  when  nothing  was  introduced  "but  cor- 
ruptions, and  the  issues  thereof;  no  change  made  in  the  cur- 
rent usages,  but  for  the  worse;  no  motions  from  its  primitive 
posture,  but  downwards  into  degeneracy ;" — out  of  this  age, 
proceeded  the  first  liturgy,  the  offspring  of  ignorance  and 
superstition ! 

The  clergy  had  become  notoriously  ignorant  and  corrupt, 
unable  suitably  to  guide  the  devotions  of  public  worship ;  and, 
to  assist  them  in  their  ignorance  and  incompetence,  liturgies 
were  provided  for  their  use.^o  "  When,  in  process  of  time, 
the  distinguished  fathers  of  the  church  had  passed  away,  and 
others,  of  an  inferior  standing,  arose  in  their  places  with  less 
learning  and  talents  for  public  speaking, — as  barbarism  and 
ignorance  continued  to  overspread  the  Roman  empire,  and 
after  the  secret  mysteries  of  Christianity  had  been  done  away, 
or,  at  least,  had  assumed  another  form  of  manifestation, — 
then,  the  clergy,  not  being  competent  themselves  to  conduct 
the  exercises  of  religious  worship  to  the  edification  of  the  peo- 
ple, saw  the  necessity  of  providing  themselves  with  written  for- 
mulas for  their  assistance.  For  this  purpose,  men  were  read- 
ily found  to  indite  and  transcribe  them.     In  this  manner, 

49  Riddle's  Chronology,  A.  D.  400,  A.  D.  439. 

*°  The  reader  will  find  abundant  evidence  of  this  ignorance,  in  the 
councils  of  this  age,  and  in  Blondell,  Apologia  Hieron.,  pp.  500,  501, 
Clarkson,  Discourse  on  Liturgies,  pp.  191 — 197,  and  Witsius,  Exer- 
citat.  De  Oratione,  §  30,  31,  p.  85.  In  the  council  of  Ephesus,  in  the 
fifth  century,  Elias  signs  his  name  by  the  hand  of  another,  because  he 
could  not  write  his  name :  to  quod  nesciam  literas.  So,  also,  Caju- 
mas  :  propterea  quod  literas  ignorem. 


U52  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

arose  its  formularies,  which  are  known  under  the  name  of  lit- 
urgies and  missals,  and  which  afterwards,  in  order  to  give 
greater  authority  to  them,  were  ascribed  to  distinguished  men, 
and  even  to  the  apostles  themselves,   as  their   authors.''^! 

Now  we  seriously  ask,  Shall  superstition,  ignorance,  and 
barbarism,  rather  than  God's  own  word,  teach  us  how  we 
may  most  acceptably  worship  him  ?  Shall  we  forsake  the 
example  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  to  imitate  ignorant  men, 
who  first  made  use  of  a  liturgy,  because  they  were  unable, 
without  it,  decently  to  conduct  the  worship  of  God  1 

How  forcibly  does  the  formality  of  such  liturgical  services 
contrast  with  the  simplicity  and  moral  efficacy  of  primitive 
worship  ?  Christianity  ascends  the  throne,  and,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  secular  power,  gives  laws  to  the  state.  The 
government  has  a  monarch  at  its  head;  and  the  church, 
bishops  in  close  alliance  with  him.  The  simple  rites  of  re- 
ligion, impressive  and  touching  by  their  simplicity,  have 
given  place  to  an  imposing  and  princely  parade  in  religious 
worship.  Splendid  churches  are  erected.  The  clergy  are 
decked  out  with  gorgeous  vestments,  assisted  by  a  numer- 
ous train  of  attendants,  and  proceed  in  the  worship  of  God 
with  all  the  formalities  of  a  prescTibed  and  complicated 
ritual.  Age  after  age  these  liturgical  forms  continue  to  in- 
crease with  the  superstition  and  degeneracy  of  the  church, 
until  her  service  becomes  encumbered  with  an  inconceivable 
mass  of  missals,  breviaries,  rituals,  pontificals,  graduals,  an- 
tiphonals,  psalteries,  etc.,  alike  unintelligible  and  unmeaning. 

But  the  simplicity  of  primitive  Christianity  gives  it  power. 
It  has  no  cumbersome  rites  to  embarrass  the  truth  of  God. 
Nothing  to  dazzle  the  eye,  to  amuse  and  occupy  the  mind 
that  is  feeling  after  God,  if  haply  it  may  find  him.  All  its 
solemn,  simple  rites  are  in  harmony  with  the  simplicity  of 
that  system  of  gospel  truth,  which  is  at  once  the  wisdom  of 

"  Geschichtsforschungen,  der  Kirch.  Gebrauche,  II.  S.  120, 121, 


PRAYERS  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  353 

God  and  the  power  of  God,  in  the  conversion  of  men.  They 
present  an  easy  and  natural  medium  for  the  communication 
of  religious  truth  to  the  soul,  and  lay  the  mind  open  to  its 
quickening  power,  without  the  parade  of  outward  forms  to 
hinder  its  secret  influences  upon  the  mind. 


REMARKS. 

1.  To  the  people  of  the  congregation  forms  of  prayer  are 
inappropriate. 

There  is  an  intimacy  in  all  our  joys,  our  sorrows,  and  our 
trials ;  an  intimacy  and  identity  which  makes  them  peculiar- 
ly our  own  ;  so  that  they  find  not  a  just  expression  in  the  lan- 
guage of  another.  The  language  may  be  more  select,  more 
appropriate,  in  the  estimation  of  another  who  knows  not  our 
hearts,  but  it  is  not  our  own,  and  but  poorly  expresses  our 
emotions  and  desires.  How  variable  withal,  is  this  infinite 
play  of  the  passions  in  the  heart ;  and  how  preposterous  the 
attempt  to  give  utterance  to  them  in  one  unvarying  tone ! 
As  if  the  harp  of  David  were  always  strung  to  the  same  key 
and  sounded  one  unchanging  note!  First,  stereotype  the 
mind  and  heart  of  man,  and  then  is  he  prepared  to  express 
his  devotions  in  the  unvarying  letter  of  a  liturgy. 

Amid  all  the  ills  that  man  is  heir  to,  new  and  unforeseen 
calamities  are  ever  and  anon  met  with,  which  would  natural- 
ly bring  men  to  the  throne  of  grace  with  supplications  and 
entreaties  of  a  special  character.  Shall  we  wait  now  until 
notice  is  given  to  the  diocesan  in  the  distant  metropolis,  and 
a  prayer  returned  at  last  duly  prepared  for  the  occasion  ? 
But  before  it  comes,  that  occasion  may  have  gone  by,  and 
given  place  to  something  else  for  which  the  bishop's  form  is 
altogether  inappropriate. 

2.  Liturgical  forms  become  wearisome  by  constant  repe- 
tition. 

ao* 


31^  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

The  love  of  change  is  inherent  in  the  breast  of  man. 
We  must  have  variety.  Without  it,  even  our  refined  plea- 
sures lose  their  charm  in  a  dull  and  dead  monotony.  So  a 
liturgy,  however  excellent  in  diction,  or  noble  in  sentiment, 
loses  its  interest  by  perpetual  repetition.  The  continual  re- 
currence even  of  the  best  possible  form,  that  of  the  Lord's 
prayer,  injures  its  effect  upon  our  own  mind.  We  have 
heard  it  at  the  table  in  our  daily  meals ;  at  morning  and 
evening  prayer,  and  in  some  instances  it  has  been  the  only 
prayer  offered  in  our  hearing  on  such  occasions  ;  at  funerals, 
at  marriages,  in  baptism,  in  confirmation,  at  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  supper ;  and  in  every  public  service,  not  once 
merely,  but  twice  or  thrice,  and  even  more  than  this ;  as 
if  no  religious  act  could  be  rightly  done,  without  the  intro- 
duction somewhere  of  the  Lord's  prayer.  Such  ceaseless 
repetition  only  creates  a  weariness  of  spirit,  in  which  one 
earnestly  craves  a  freer  and  more  informal  mode  of  worship. 
Let  tlie  following  testimony  suffice  for  illustration.  "  How 
often  have  I  been  grieved  to  observe  coldness  and  compara- 
tive indifference  in  the  reading-desk ,  but  warmth  and  anima- 
tion in  the  pulpit !  In  how  many  different  places  have  I 
been  obliged  to  conclude,  this  man  preaches  in  earnest,  but 
prays  with  indifference  1  I  have  asked  myself,  I  have  asked 
others,  what  is  the  reason  of  such  conduct."^^  The  case  so 
embarrassing  to  our  churchman  is  easily  explained.  In  the 
reading-desk,  the  Episcopal  preacher  utters  the  cold  dicta- 
tions of  another ;  in  the  pulpit  he  expresses  the  warm  sug- 
gestions of  his  own  heart.  Here,  accordingly,  his  utterance 
is  instinct  with  life  and  spirit ;  there  it  is  changed  by  per- 
petual repetition  into  chilling  indifference. 

3.  The  significancy  of  a  liturgy  is  lost  by  its  constant  rep- 
etition. 

To  one  who  but  seldom  frequents  an  Episcopal  house  of 
worship,  there  may  be  much  that  is  impressive  in  the  liturgy. 

^2  Churchman,  in  Christian  Observer,  1804,  p.  271. 


PRAYERiS  OF  tHE  PRIMITIVE  CttURCH.  355 

But  the  impression,  we  apprehend,  must  be  greatly  diminish- 
ed by  a  constant  attendance.  The  words  of  the  prayer-book, 
when  grown  familiar,  lose  in  a  great  degree,  their  signifi- 
cancy.  They  fall  upon  the  ear  like  the  murmur  of  the  distant 
waterfall,  lulling  the  mind  to  repose,  or  leaving  it  to  the  un- 
disturbed enjoyment  of  its  idle  musings.  The  listlesB  inat- 
tention of  men  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  is  a  subject 
of  public  and  painful  notoriety  ;  and  the  reason  assigned  is, 
that,  by  long  familiarity  and  constant  repetition,  the  words 
even  of  the  great  Jehovah  fall  upon  the  ear  without  making 
any  adequate  impression  on  the  mind.  The  same  result,  in 
a  much  higher  degree,  may  be  expected  from  the  constant 
recital  of  the  liturgy.  It  may  be  a  form  of  sound  words ;  but 
it  becomes  in  time  no  more  than  a  form  of  words,  received  pas- 
sively and  without  producing  the  requisite  impression.  "  This 
same  service,  now  repeated  for  the  thousandth,  the  ten  thou- 
sandth time — which  has  stood  printed  before  the  eye  ever 
since  it  could  trace  a  line,  which  no  moment  of  personal  or 
public  excitement  ever  warmed  or  can  warm  into  a  higher 
flight, — this  same  weary  monotony  for  youth  and  age — this 
eternal  dead  letter  loses  much  of  its  power  by  long  practice, 
and  dwells  often  in  the  memory  after  it  has  ceased  to  touch 
the  heart." 

4.  A  liturgy  is  often  not  in  harmony  with  the  subject  of 
discourse. 

The  preceding  remarks  relate  to  the  disadvantages  of  the 
liturgy  to  the  people ;  the  present,  and  some  that  follow,  have 
reference  to  the  inconvenience  experienced  by  the  clergyman 
from  the  same  source.  Every  preacher  knows  the  impor- 
tance, of  harmony  in  his  services.  And  if  permitted,  in  the 
freedom  of  primitive  worship,  to  direct  them  accordingly,  he 
studiously  seeks  to  make  the  impression  from  the  prayers,  the 
psalmody,  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  coincident  with 
the  subject  of  his  sermon  ;  so  that  all  may  conspire  to  pro- 
duce a  single  impression  upon  the  hearer.     The  final  result 


356  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

upon  the  audience  is  ascribable  in  a  great  degree  to  the  har- 
mony which  pervades  the  entire  service.  But  here  the  lit- 
urgy interposes  its  unyielding  forms,  to  break  up  this  har- 
mony of  the  service,  and  sadly  to  impair  the  effect  of  it  upon 
the  audience. 

5.  arhe  liturgy  is  not  a  suitable  preparation  for  the  impres- 
sion of  the  sermon. 

Much  of  the  practical  effect  of  the  preacher's  discourse  de- 
pends upon  the  previous  preparation  of  the  mind  for  it.  This 
preparation  results,  in  a  great  degree,  from  a  happy  adapta- 
tion of  the  preliminary  services  to  this  end.  But  the  prelim- 
inaries of  the  liturgy  move  on  with  unvarying  formality,  car- 
lying  the  mind,  it  may  be,  directly  away  from  the  subject  of 
the  discourse  that  is  to  follow,  or  leaving  the  audience  unin- 
terested and  unprepared  for  any  quickened  impression  from 
the  preacher.  He  rises  to  address  them,  with  the  disheart- 
ening conviction  that  they  are  in  no  state  rightly  to  receive 
what  he  has  to  say,  he  advances  in  his  discourse,  under  the 
consciousness  that  he  is  toiling  at  a  task  that  is  too  heavy  for 
him ;  and  retires  at  last  with  the  feeling  that  he  has  only  la- 
bored in  vain,  and  spent  his  strength  for  nought.  So  in  the 
event,  it  appears ;  all  has  been  done  with  cold  and  decent 
formality,  but  the  profiting  of  the  hearer  is  not  apparent. 
How  much  of  the  inefficacy  of  the  pulpit  in  the  Episcopal 
church  is  ascribable  to  this  cause,  we  leave  the  reader  to 
judge. 

6.  A  liturgy  curtails  unreasonably  the  time  allotted  to  the 
sermon. 

A  sermon  we  know  may  be,  and  often  is,  too  long ;  it  may 
also  be  too  short.  Following  the  protracted  recitals  of  the 
liturgy,  it  is  necessarily  crowded  into  a  narrow  space,  at  the 
conclusion  of  a  service  which  has  already  unfitted  the  audience 
for  a  calm,  sustained  attention  to  the  preacher.  What  he  has 
to  say,  must  be  quickly  said ;  he  therefore  hurries  through  a 
brief  and  superficial  exposition  of  his  subject,  and  dismisses 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  357 

it  with  a  hasty  application,  before  it  has  had  time  to  assume 
in  the  hearer's  mind  that  importance  which  belongs  to  its  mo- 
mentous truths.  And  the  final  result  is  that  it  falls  powerless 
upon  the  consciences  of  the  audience. 

7.  The  liturgy  exalts  the  inventions  of  man  above  the  truth 
of  God. 

The  liturgy  is  ever  prominently  before  the  audience ;  claim- 
ing the  first  attention,  the  highest  place  in  all  the  acts  of  wor- 
ship. In  some  liturgies  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  forms 
no  part  of  the  public  service,  and  in  others,  the  word  of  God 
is  mixed  up  with  a  mass  of  foreign  ingredients  which  do  but 
neutralize  its  power.  The  tendency  of  the  whole  arrange- 
ment is  to  keep  back  the  word  of  God,  to  hold  in  check  its 
power,  to  rob  religious  truth  of  its  chief  glory  as  the  means 
of  salvation,  and  to  substitute  in  its  place  a  system  of  mere 
formalism. 

In  this  connection,  the  profound  remarks  of  Archbishop 
Whately,  respecting  undue  reliance  on  human  authority,  are 
worthy  of  serious  consideration.  He  exposes  with  great  force 
the  disposition  of  men,  to  "  obtrude  into  the  place  of  Scrip- 
ture, creeds,  catechisms,  and  liturgies,  and  other  such  com- 
positions, set  forth  by  any  church."  This  disposition  he  as- 
cribes to  deep  seated  principles  of  our  nature.  He  supposes 
that  nothing  but  a  miraculous  providence  could  have  so  di- 
rected the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians,  that  they  left  no 
such  formulary  of  religious  worship,  or  compend  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  '*  Such  a  systematic  course  of  instruction,  carry- 
ing with  it  divine  authority,  would  have  superseded  the  framing 
of  any  others — nay,  would  have  made  even  the  alteration  of  a 
single  word,  of  what  would  on  this  supposition  have  been 
Scripture,  appear  an  impious  presumption.  ...  So  that  there 
would  have  been  an  almost  inevitable  danger,  that  such  an 
authoritative  list  of  credenda  would  have  been  regarded,  by  a 
large  proportion  of  Christians,  with  a  blind,  unthinking  reve- 
rence, which  would  have  exerted  no  influence  on  the  charac- 


358  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

ter.  They  would  have  had  a  form  of  godliness;  but,  deny- 
ing the  power  thereof,  the  form  itself  would  have  remained 
with  them  only  the  corpse  of  departed  religion. "^3 

Ought  not  then  this  momentous  consideration  to  excite  a 
wise  jealousy  of  a  tendency,  which  may  so  easily  be  abused  ? 
In  our  mind,  it  is  an  urgent  reason  for  confining  the  ceremo- 
nials of  religion  within  the  strictest  limits.  But  this  continu- 
al recital  of  creeds  and  confessions,  this  perpetual  profession 
of  faith  in  the  "  holy  catholic  church,"  these  rites  of  the  ritu- 
al ever  recurring,  and  foremost  in  importance,  to  which  every 
thing  else  gives  place  in  public  worship, — who  can  doubt  the 
practical  influence  of  all  this  ?  It  casts  into  shade  and  dis- 
tance God's  own  word.  It  brings  forward  the  dictations  of 
canonized  tradition  as  the  rule  of  faith  and  of  worship;  and 
spiritual  truth  is  forgotten  in  this  parading  of  the  ceremo- 
nials of  religion. 

8.  The  book  of  Common  Prayer  dishonors  the  holy  sab- 
bath. 

We  have  sought  in  vain  for  any  clear  expression  of  the  di- 
vine authority  of  the  Lord's  day.  It  is  specified  in  the  calen- 
dar among  many  other  holy  days  of  the  church,  some  of  which 
seem  to  be  regarded  with  equal  reverence.  The  specifi- 
cations respecting  it,  all  serve  to  direct  the  mind  to  it  as 
merely  an  ordinance  of  the  church.  They  bring  it  down  from 
its  lofty  place  as  a  divine  institution,  and  blend  it  unworthily 
with  a  multitude  of  saints'  days,  which  a  blind  superstition 
first  established  and  still  venerates.  When  the  true  doctrine 
of  the  sacred  sabbath  was  first  promulgated,  it  encountered 
for  half  a  century  the  furious  opposition  of  the  established 
church  on  this  very  principle,  that  it  was  derogatory  to  the 
authority  of  the  church,  and  to  the  reverence  due  to  its  festivals 
and  fasts.  The  advocates  of  this  doctrine  were  suspended 
from  their  ministerial  duties,  deposed  and  imprisoned  for  dar- 
ing to  assert,  that  this  holy  sabbath  depended  on  higher  au- 

63  Errors  of  Romanism,  pp,  49 — 61. 


PRAYERS  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  359 

thority  than  the  usage  and  decrees  of  the  church.  Whatever 
may  be  the  sentiments  of  Episcopalians  at  present  respecting 
this  day,  we  cannot  resist  the  conviction,  that  it  has  in  the 
prayer-book  no  higher  place  than  the  other  holy  days  of  the 
church. 

9.  We  object  to  the  popish  origin  and  tendencies  of  the 
English  liturgy. 

It  is  a  translation  and  compend  of  the  popish  ritual,  and 
still  savors  too  strongly  of  its  origin.  We  hear,  indeed,  so 
much  of  this  "excellent,"  "this  noble  and  pathetic  liturgy," 
that  it  seems  almost  like  sacrilege  to  touch  that  holy  thing 
with  other  sentiments  than  those  of  profound  veneration.  But 
we  dislike  its  origin,  and  the  character  which  it  inherits. 
Must  we,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  go  back  to  the  dark 
ages  of  popery,  and  learn  from  her  traditions,  her  supersti- 
tions, how  we  may  best  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth? 
But  this  "  pathetic  litany,"  "  this  noble  liturgy,"  it  is  said, — 
"  is  it  not  admirable?"     To  which  we  must  still  reply, 

Timeo  Danaos  et  dona  ferentes  \^* 

Let  us  examine  a  little.  What  change  has  the  liturgy  un- 
dergone, in  passing  over  from  the  Romish  to  the  English 
church,  and  what  is  the  difference  between  the  religion  of 
the  two  churches.  The  chief  points  of  distinction,  accord- 
ing to  Hall  am,  are  the  following: 

1.  The  liturgy  was  translated  into  the  vernacular  language 
of  the  people.     Formerly,  it  had  been  in  an  unknown  tongue. 

2.  Its  acts  of  idolatrous  worship  to  saints  and  images  were 
expunged. 

3.  Auricular  confession  was  done  away;  or  rather  it  was 
left  to  every  man's  discretion,  and  went  into  neglect. 

4.  "  The  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  or  the  change,  at 
the  moment  of  consecration,  of  the  substances  of  bread  and 
wine  into  those  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,"  was  discarded. 

64  I  dred  the  Greeks}  yea,  when  they  offer  gyftes. — Howard's  Trans, 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

5.  The  celibacy  of  the  clergy  was  abolished.^s 
With  these  modifications  the  religion  of  Rome  became 
that  of  the  church  of  England.  And  to  this  day,  her  ritual, 
crudely  formed  in  the  infancy  of  protestanism,  which  Milton 
denominates  "  an  extract  of  the  mass  translated,"  continues 
with  little  variation  to  be  the  liturgy  of  the  whole  Episcopal 
church  in  England  and  America.  Like  the  ancient  liturgies, 
it  was  prepared  for  a  priesthood  who  were  too  ignorant  to 
conduct  religious  worship  with  decency  without  it.  Even 
the  book  of  homilies  was  drawn  up  at  the  same  time,  "  to 
supply  the  defect  of  preaching,  which  few  of  the  clergy  at 
that  time  were  capable  of  performing."^ 

Multitudes  in  the  kingdom  were  strongly  attached  still  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  It  was  a  politic  measure  to 
conciliate  these  as  far  as  possible.  For  various  reasons, 
the  Reformers  sought  to  make  a  gradual,  rather  than  an 
abrupt  departure  from  popery.  The  liturgy  accordingly  had 
then,  and  still  retains  many  popish  affinities.  These  are  seen 
in  the  canonizing  of  saints,  and  celebration  of  saint's  days; 
in  the  absolution  by  the  priests,  modified  so  as  to  unite  the 
Protestant  idea  of  forgiveness  of  sin  by  God  alone,  with  the 
popish  absolution  by  the  priest ;  in  the  endless  reiterations  of 
the  Lord's  prayer  ;  in  the  inordinate  prominence  that  is  giv- 
en to  liturgical  forms;  in  the  qualified  and  cautious  phrase- 
ology of  the  communion  service,  and  the  special  care  that  all 
the  consecrated  bread  and  wine  shall  be  eaten  and  drunk,  so 
that  none  of  it  shall  be  carried  out  of  the  church, — a  point 
upon  which  the  papists  are  ridiculously  superstitious.^^   These 

55  Constitutional  History,  Vol.  I.  pp.  116— 126. 

56  Neal's  History  of  Puritans,  1.  p.  90.  Hetherington's  History  of 
Westminster  Divines,  p.  21. 

57  In  the  amendment  of  the  liturgy,  under  Elizabeth,  "the  words 
used  in  distributing  the  elements,  were  so  contrived  as  neither  to  of- 
fend the  Popish,  or  Lutheran,  or  Zuinglian  communicant." — HoJIam's 
Const.  Hist.  Vol.  1.  p.  150  note.  Very  catholic  and  accommodating, 
surely  ! 


PRAYERS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  361 

popish  tenets  are  seen  particularly  in  the  baptismal  regenera- 
tion of  the  liturgy,  by  which  the  child  becomes  *'  regenerate, 
and  grafted  into  the  body  of  Christ's  church.  . .  .  We  yield  thee 
hearty  thanks,  most  merciful  Father,  that  it  hath  pleased  thee 
to  regenerate  this  infant  with  thy  Holy  Spirit,  to  receive  hira 
for  thine  own  child  by  adoption."  The  order  of  confirmation 
is  so  conducted  as  to  confirm  one  in  the  delusion,  that  he  hay 
become  "  regenerate  by  water,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  through 
the  instrumentalitij  of  this  rite^  rather  than  by  that  grace 
which  is  the  gift  of  God.  The  burial  service,  also,  is  exceed- 
ingly objectionable.  "  Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  Al- 
mighty God,  of  his  great  mercy,  to  take  unto  himself  the  soul 
of  our  deceased  brother  here  departed,  we  therefore  commit 
his  body  to  the  ground ;  earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust 
to  dust,  in  sure  and  certain  hope  of  the  resurrection  to  eternal 
life  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  This  is  said  of  every 
one  alike,  however  profligate  his  life,  however  hopeless  his 
death.  In  the  American  service,  instead  of  this,  at  the  grave 
is  said  or  sung,  "  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto 
me,  *  Write,  from  henceforth  blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in 
the  Lord ;  even  so,  saith  the  Spirit,  for  they  rest  from  their 
labors.'  "  Rev.  14:  13.  The  practical  influence  of  this  ser- 
vice is  apparent  from  the  following  remark  of  Archbishop 
Whately.  "  I  have  known  a  person,  in  speaking  of  a  deceas- 
ed neighbor,  whose  character  had  been  irreligious  and  profli- 
gate, remark,  how  great  a  comfort  it  was  to  hear  the  words 
of  the  funeral  service  read  over  her,  *  because,  poor  woman, 
she  had  been  such  a  bad  liver.'  "^ 

Without  controversy,  a  temporizing  policy  guided  the 
early  Reformers  in  the  preparation  of  the  English  prayer- 
b(X)k.  However  many  of  the  Episcopal  church  may  repu- 
diate the  semi-popish  delusion  of  Puseyism,  which  has  come 
up  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land,  it  is  indirectly 

*^  Errors  of  Romanism,  p.  55. 

31 


362  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

supported,  if  not  plainly  taught,  in  her  ritual.  The  English 
reformers  attempted  a  sinful  compromise  with  the  corruptions 
of  the  church  of  Rome.  In  the  language  of  Macaulay, "  The 
scheme  was  merely  to  rob  the  Babylonian  enchantress  of  her 
ornaments;  to  transfer  the  full  cup  of  her  sorceries  to  other 
hands,  spilling  as  little  as  possible  by  the  way.  The  Cath- 
olic doctrines  and  rites  were  to  be  retained  in  the  church  of 
England."59 

The  great  effort  of  a  large  party  in  this  church  at  present 
is  to  reinstate  these  popish  doctrines  and  rites — an  effort 
which  Roman  Catholics  regard  with  the  deepest  interest. 
The  celebrated  Dr.  Wiseman  expresses,  in  the  liveliest  terms, 
his  gratification  at  "  the  movement"  of  the  Oxford  Tracta- 
lians  "  towards  Catholic  ideas  and  Catholic  feelings."  He 
has  "  watched  its  progress  with  growing  interest,"  because 
he  "  saw  in  it  the  surest  guarantee  and  principle  of  success. 
The  course  which  we  (papists)  ought  to  pursue  seems  simple 
and  clear, — to  admire  and  bless,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  se- 
cond and  favor,  as  far  as  human  means  can,  the  course  which 
God's  providence  has  opened,  and  is  pursuing ;  but  to  be 
careful  how  loe  thwart  it.  It  seems  to  me  impossible  to  read 
the  works  of  the  Oxford  divines,  and  especially  to  follow  them 
chronologically  without  discovering  a  daily  approach  towards 
our  holy  church,  both  in  doctrine  and  affectionate  feeling. 
Our  saints,  our  popes,  our  rites  and  ceremonies,  offices,  nay, 
our  very  rubrics  are  precious  in  their  eyes,  far  alas  beyond 
what  many  of  us  consider  them."60 

^^  Review  of  Hallam's  Constitutional  History.  See  in  the  Appen- 
dix a  further  illustration  of  this. 

^  Cited  in  Rev.  H.  H.  Beamish's  Letter  to  Dr.  Pusey,  p.  9. 


^4« 


CHAPTER   XTI. 

PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

The  singing  of  spiritual  songs  constituted,  from  the  be- 
ginning, an  interesting  and  important  part  of  religious  wor- 
ship in  the  primitive  church.  The  course  of  our  remarks 
on  this  subject  will  lead  us  to  consider, 

I.  The  argument  for  Christian  psalmody  as  a  part  of  re- 
ligious worship. 

II.  The  mode  of  singing,  in  the  ancient  church. 

III.  The  changes  in  the  psalmody  of  the  church. 

I.  Argument  for  the  psalmody  of  the  primitive  church, 

1.  From  reason. 

Praise  is  the  appropriate  language  of  devotion.  A  fer- 
vent spirit  of  devotion  instinctively  seeks  to  express  itself  in 
song.  In  the  strains  of  poetry,  joined  with  the  melody  of 
music,  it  finds  an  easy  and  natural  utterance  of  its  elevated 
emotions.  Can  it  be  doubted,  then,  that  that  Spirit  which 
was  shed  abroad  upon  the  disciples  after  our  Lord's  ascension, 
would  direct  them  to  the  continued  use  of  the  sacred  psalm- 
ody of  their  own  Scriptures,  indited  by  the  inspiration  of 
the  same  Spirit  ?  Is  it  unreasonable  to  suppose,  that  the 
glad  spirit  with  which  they  continued  praising  God,  might 
direct  them  to  indite  other  spiritual  songs  to  the  praise  of 
their  Lord,  whose  wondrous  life  and  death  so  employed  their 
contemplations,  and   whose  love  so  inspired  their  hearts? 


364  TIIE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

The  opinion  has  been  expressed  by  Grotius,  and  is  supported 
by  many  others,  that  we  have,  in  Acts  4  :  24 — 30,  an  epi- 
tome of  such  an  early  Christian  hymn  to  Christ.i 

^.  From  analogy. 

The  singing  of  songs  constituted  a  great  part  of  the  re- 
ligious worship  of  all  ancient  nations.  In  all  their  religious 
festivals,  and  in  their  temples,  those  pagan  nations  sung  to 
the  praise  of  their  idol  gods.2  The  worship  of  the  Jews, 
not  only  in  the  temple,  but  in  their  synagogues  and  in  their 
private  dwellings,  was  celebrated  with  sacred  hymns  to  God. 
Many  of  the  loftiest,  sweetest  strains  of  Hebrew  poetry  were 
sung  by  their  sacred  minstrels  on  such  occasions.  Christ, 
himself,  in  his  final  interview  with  his  disciples,  before  his 
crucifixion,  sung  with  them  the  customary  paschal  songs,  at 
the  institution  of  the  sacrament  ;3  and,  by  his  example,  sanc- 
tified the  use  of  sacred  songs  in  the  Christian  church.  All 
analogy  drawn  from  other  forms  of  religious  worship,  pagan 
and  Jewish,  requires  us  to  ascribe  to  the  primitive  Christians 
the  use  of  spiritual  songs  in  their  public  devotions. 

3.  From  Scripture. 

The  same  is  clearly  indicated  in  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament. 

Without  doubt,  in  the  opinion  of  Miinter,^  the  gift  of  the 

'  Comp.  Augusti,  DenkwUrdigkeiten,  Vol,  V,  248. 
2  Semper  id  est  cordi  jnusis,  semperque  poetis 
Ut  divos  celebrent,  laudes  celebrentque  virorum 
'Tfivtiv  d&avdTovg,  vfivtlv  ayaifoiv  xUa  SlvSq&v. 

Theocritus^  cited  by  Gerbert^  Musica  Sacra,  T.  1 . 
Pref.     Comp.  61   §  5,  in  which  are  many 
references  of  a  similar  kind. 
^  The  collect  for  such  occasions  is  comprised  in  Psalms  113 — 118, 
the  first  two  before  the  paschal  supper,  and  the  remainder  after  it. 
The  theory  has  been  advanced,  but  without  reason,  that  Christ  him- 
self indited  the  hymn  on  this  occasion.     Neither  is  it  necessary  to 
suppose  that  all  the  hymns  above-mentioned  were  sung  by  him  and 
the  disciples  at  this  time. 

*  Com.  MUnter,  Metrisch.  Uebersetz.  der  Offenbar.  Johann.  Vor- 
rede,  S.  17. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.        365 

Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  accompanied  with 
poetic  inspiration,  to  which  the  disciples  gave  utterance  in 
the  rhapsodies  of  spiritual  songs.  Acts  2  :  4,  13,  47.  The 
opinion  of  Grotius  and  others,  with  reference  to  Acts  4 : 
24 — 30,  has  already  been  mentioned.  But  there  are  other 
passages  which  clearly  indicate  the  use  of  religious  songs  in 
the  worship  of  God.  Paul  and  Silas,  lacerated  by  the  cruel 
scourging  which  they  had  received,  and  in  close  confinement 
in  the  inner  prison,  prayed  and  sang  praises  to  God  at  mid- 
night. Acts  16  :  25.  The  use  of  psalms  and  hymns,  and 
spiritual  songs,  moreover,  is  directly  enjoined  upon  the 
churches,  by  the  apostle,  as  an  essential  part  of  religious  de- 
votions. Col.  3  :  16.  Eph.  5  :  19.  The  latter  epistle  was  a 
circular  letter  to  the  Gentile  churches  of  Asia  \^  and,  there- 
fore, in  connection  with  that  to  the  church  at  Colosse,  is  ex- 
plicit authority  for  the  use  of  Christian  psalmody  in  the  re- 
ligious worship  of  the  apostolical  churches.^ 

The  use  of  such  psalmody,  evidently,  was  not  restricted 
merely  to  the  public  worship  of  God.  In  connection  with 
the  passage  from  Ephesians,  the  apostle  warns  those  whom 
he  addresses  against  the  use  of  wine,  and  the  excesses  to 
which  it  leads,  with  evident  reference  to  those  abuses  which 
dishonored  their  sacramental  supper  and  love-feasts.  In  op- 
position to  the  vain  songs  which,  in  such  excesses,  they  might 
be  disposed  to  sing,  they  are  urged  to  the  sober,  religious  use 
of  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs. 

The  phraseology,  therefore,  indicates  that  they  were  not 
restricted  to  the  use  of  the  psalms  of  David  merely,  as  in 
the  Jewish  worship ;  but  were  at  liberty  to  employ  others  of 
appropriate  religious  character  in  their  devotions.  It  seems 
also  that  the  Corinthians  were  accustomed  to  make  use  of 
songs  composed  for   the   occasion.  1  Cor.   14 :  26.      And 

^  Neander's  Apost.  Kirch.  I.  450,  3d  ed. 

«  All  this  is  shown  at  length  by  J.  G.   Walch,  De  Hymnis  Eccle- 
siae  Apostolicae. 

31* 


366  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

though  the  apostle  had  occasion  to  correct  their  disorderly  pro- 
ceedings, it  does  not  appear  that  he  forbade  the  use  of  such 
songs.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  the  highest  probability 
that  the  apostolical  churches  did  not  restrict  themselves 
simply  to  the  use  of  the  Jewish  Psalter.  And  the  evidence 
is  sufficiently  clear,  that  the  primitive  churches  very  early 
employed,  in  their  devotions,  not  merely  the  psalms,  appro- 
priately so  called,  but  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  indited  for 
the  worship  of  the  Christian  church. 

Grotius  and  others  have  supposed  that  some  fragments  of 
these  early  hymns  are  contained,  not  only  as  above-mention- 
ed, in  Acts,  but  perhaps,  also,  in  I  Tim.  3:  16.  Something 
like  poetic  antithesis  they  have  imagined  to  be  contained  in 
1  Tim.  1:1.2  Tim.  2:  11—13.  The  expression  in  Rev- 
elation, "  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega ;  the  first  and  the  last," 
has  been  ascribed  to  the  same  origin,  as  has  also  Rev.  4:  8, 
together  with  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  Rev.  15:  3,  and 
the  songs  of  the  elders  and  the  beasts.  Rev.  5  :  9 — 14.  Cer- 
tain parts  of  the  book  itself  have  been  supposed  to  be  strict- 
ly poetical,  and  may  have  been  used  as  such  in  Christian 
worship,  such  as  Rev.  1:  4—8.  11:  15—19.  15:  3,  4.  21: 
1 — 8.  22:  10 — 18.  But  the  argument  is  not  conclusive; 
and  all  the  learned  criticism,  the  talent,  and  the  taste  that 
have  been  employed  on  this  point,  leave  us  little  else  than  un- 
certain conjecture  on  which  to  build  an  hypothesis. 

4.  From  history. 

The  earliest  authentic  record  on  this  subject  is  the  cele- 
brated letter  from  Pliny  to  Trajan,  just  at  the  close  of  the 
apostolical  age,  A.  D.  103,  104.  In  the  investigations  which 
he  instituted  against  the  Christians  of  his  period,  he  discover- 
ed, among  other  things,  that  they  were  accustomed  to  meet 
before  day,  to  offer  praise  to  Christ  as  God,  or  as  a  God,  as 
some  contend  that  it  should  be  rendered.''     The  expression 

'  Carmen  Christo  quasi  Deo  dicere  secum  invicem. — Epist.  Lib. 
10.  97. 


rSALMODY  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.        367 

is  somewhat  equivocal,  and  might  be  used  with  reference  to 
the  ascription  of  praise  in  prayer,  or  in  song.  But  it  appears 
that  these  Christians  rehearsed  their  carmen  invicem,  alter' 
nateli/,  as  if  in  responsive  songs,  according  to  the  ancient 
custom  of  singing  in  the  Jewish  worship.  Tertullian,  only  a 
century  later,  evidently  understood  the  passage  to  be  descrip- 
tive of  this  mode  of  worshipping  God  and  Christ,  for  he  says 
that  Pliny  intended  to  express  nothing  else  than  assemblies 
before  the  dawn  of  the  morning,  for  singing  praise  to  Christ 
and  to  God,  coetus  antelucanos,  ad  canendum  Christo  et  Deo,^ 
Eusebius  also  gives  the  passage  a  similar  interpretation,  say- 
ing, that  Pliny  could  find  nothing  against  them  save  that, 
arising  at  the  dawn  of  the  morning,  they  sang  hymns  to  Christ 
as  God,  UXriv  to  ye  afjia  zy  eco  dieyeiQOfisvovg  rov  Xqiotov 
Oeov  dinriv  vfiveiv.^  Viewed  in  this  light,  according  to  the 
most  approved  interpretation  of  the  passage,  it  becomes  evi- 
dence of  the  use  of  Christian  psalmody  among  the  Christians 
immediately  subsequent  to  the  age  of  the  apostles. ^<^  Ter- 
tullian himself  also  distinctly  testifies  to  the  use  of  songs  to  the 
praise  of  God,  by  the  primitive  Christians.  Every  one,  he  says, 
was  invited  in  their  public  worship  to  sing  unto  God,  accord- 
ing to  his  ability,  either  from  the  Scriptures,  or  de  propria  in- 
genio,  one  indited  hy  himself,  according  to  the  interpretation 
of  Miinter.  Whatever  may  be  the  meaning  of  this  phrase, 
the  passage  clearly  asserts  the  use  of  Christian  psalmody  in 
their  religious  worship.  Again,  he  speaks  of  singing,  in  con- 
nection with  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  exhortations,  and 
prayer  in  public  worship.^  Eusebius  also  speaks  of  singing 
in  a  similar  manner.^2 

Justin  Martyr  also  mentions  the  songs  and  hymns  of  the 
Ephesian  Christians.  "  We  manifest  our  gratitude  to  him 
by  worshipping  him  in  spiritual  songs  and  hymns,  praising 

«  Apolog.  c.  2.  9  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  3.  32. 

»o  Munter,  Metrisch.  Offenbar.  S.  25. 

"  De  Anima,  c.  9.  12  yit.  Const.  Lib.  4.  c.  45. 


^$B  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

him  for  our  birth,  for  our  health,  for  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
seasons,  and  for  the  hopes  of  irnmortality."i3 

The  testimony  of  Origen,  f  A.  D.  254,  again,  of  the  church 
of  Alexandria,  is  to  the  same  effect.  In  answer  to  the  charge 
of  Celsus,  that  the  Christians  worshipped  the  great  God,  and 
sang  hymns  also  to  the  sun  and  to  Minerva,  he  says,  "  we 
know  the  contrary,  for  these  hymns  are  to  him  who  alone  is 
called  God  over  all,  and  to  his  only  begotten  [Son]."!"* 

Eusebius  also  has  left  on  record  the  important  testimony  of 
Caius,  as  is  generally  supposed,  an  ancient  historian,  and 
contemporary  of  Tertullian.  "  Who  knows  not  the  writings 
of  Irenaeus,  Melito,  and  others,  which  exhibit  Christ  as  God 
and  man  ?  And  how  many  songs  and  odes  of  the  brethren 
there  are,  written  from  the  beginning,  jam  pridem,  a  long 
time  since,  by  believers,  which  offer  praise  to  Christ  as  the 
Word  of  God,  ascribing  divinity  to  him."^^  This  passage  not 
only  presents  a  new  and  independent  testimony  to  the  use  of 
spiritual  songs  in  the  Christian  church,  from  the  remotest 
antiquity,  an  dQ)(^rjgj  to  the  praise  of  Christ  as  divine,  but  it 
shows  that  these,  in  great  numbers,  had  been  committed  to 
writing,  as  it  appears,  for  continued  use.  So  that  we  here 
have  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  Christian  hymn-book  from 
the  beginning. 

Christ,  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father,  is  the  burden  of 
these  primitive  songs  and  hymns.     Here  is  he  set  forth  doc- 

^^  Apol.  c.  13.  Justin  Martyr  wrote,  as  is  supposed,  also  a  work 
on  Christian  Psalmody,  the  loss  of  which  we  have  deeply  to  deplore. 
Living  within  half  a  century  of  the  age  of  the  apostles  it  would  be 
particularly  interesting  to  receive  from  him  a  treatise  on  this  inter- 
esting subject.  The  references  are  from  Semisch,  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist. 
Lib.  4.  c.  18.  and  Phot.  Bibl.  Cod.  Vol.  1.  p.  95.  6  iTtiyQacpojuspog 
tpdlxTjg.     Comp.  Fabric.  Bibliothec.  Graec.  ed  Harl.  VII.  p.  (j7. 

*4  Against  Celsum,  Lib.  8.  c.  67.  p.  792,  ed.  Ruaei :  vfivovi  yd^  eig 
fiovov  TOP  ini  Tiaat  Kbyo^tvov  ■d'iov,  aal  rev  fiovoysvij  avTOv- 

'^  IIoaXfMol  §6  hooi  xal  (oSat  dSt?.(po)V  anctQ/^^g  vno  ttiotmv  yQatpst- 
oat,  Tov  Xoyov  xov  Qeov  rov  Xqiotov  v/ivovai  deoloyovvzsg. — Eccl. 
Hist.  Lib.  5.  28. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  369 

trinallify  •OeoXoyiaoig,  as  the  incarnate  Word  of  God^  as 
God  and  man.  His  mediatorial  character  was  the  subject  of 
the  songs  of  these  apostolical  and  primitive  saints.  This 
sacred  theme  inspired  the  earliest  anthems  of  the  Christian 
church ;  and,  as  it  has  ever  been  the  subject  of  her  sweet- 
est melodies  and  loftiest  strains,  so  doubtless  will  it  continue 
to  be,  until  the  last  of  her  ransomed  sons  shall  end  the  songs 
of  the  redeemed  on  earth,  and  wake  his  harp  to  nobler, 
sweeter  strains  in  heaven.^6 

One  ancient  hymn  of  the  primitive  church  appears  to 
have  come  down  to  us  entire,  from  that  distant  period.  It 
is  found,  indeed,  in  the  Paedagoge  of  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria, a  work  bearing  date  some  hundred  and  fifty  years  from 
the  time  of  the  apostles ;  but  it  is  ascribed  to  another,  and 
assigned  to  an  earlier  origin.  It  is  wanting  in  some  of  the 
manuscripts  of  Clement.  It  contains  figurative  language 
and  forms  of  expression  which  were  familiar  to  the  church 
at  an  earlier  date ;  and,  for  various  reasons,  is  regarded  by 
Miinter  and  Bull,i7  as  a  venerable  relic  of  the  early  church, 
which  has  escaped  the  ravages  of  time,  and  still  remains,  a 
solitary  remnant  of  the  Christian  psalmody  of  that  early  age. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  certainly  very  ancient,  and  the 
earliest  that  has  been  preserved  and  transmitted  to  us.  It  is 
a  hymn  to  Christ ;  and,  though  regarded  merely  as  a  poetical 
production  it  has  little  claim  to  consideration,  it  shows  what 

^^  Whatever  may  be  the  doctrinal  truth  in  regard  to  the  character 
of  Christ,  it  is  abundantly  evident,  that  he  was  worshipped  as  divine 
in  the  prayers  and  psalmody  of  the  primitive  church.  See  the  au- 
thor's Christian  Antiquities,  pp.  203 — 206.  This  truth,  again,  is  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  mentioned  by  Neander,  that,  "  In  the  controversy 
with  the  Unitarians,  at  the  close  of  the  second  and  beginning  of  the 
third  century,  their  opponents  appealed  to  those  hymns  in  which, 
aforetime,  Christ  had  been  worshipped  as  God." — Mgem.  Kirch. 
Hist.,  I.  523,  2d  ed. 

"  Metriach.  Offenbar.,  S.  32.  Bull's  Defensio  fidei  Nicaenae,  § 
111.  c.  2.  p.  316,  cited  by  Mttnter. 


370  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

was  the  strain  of  their  devotions.  We  see  in  it  the  heart  of 
primitive  piety  laboring  to  give  utterance  to  its  emotions  of 
wonder,  love  and  gratitude,  in  view  of  the  offices  and  cha- 
racter of  the  great  Redeemer.i^  It  is  not  found  in  the  later 
collects  of  the  church,  because,  as  is  supposed,  it  was 
thought  to  resemble,  in  its  measure  and  antiphonal  structure, 
the  songs  which  were  used  in  pagan  worship. 

The  songs  of  the  primitive  Christians  were  not  restricted 
to  their  public  devotions.  In  their  social  circles,  and  around 
their  domestic  altars,  they  worshipped  God  in  the  sacred  song ; 
and,  in  their  daily  occupations,  they  were  wont  to  relieve 
their  toil  and  refresh  their  spirits,  by  renewing  their  favorite 
songs  of  Zion.  Persecuted  and  afflicted  as  they  often  were, 
— in  solitary  cells  of  the  prison,  in  the  more  dismal  abodes  of 
the  mines  to  which  they  were  doomed,  or  as  wandering  ex- 
iles in  foreign  countries, — still  they  forgot  not  to  sing  the 
Lord's  song  in  the  prison  or  the  mine,  or  in  the  strange  lands 
to  which  they  were  driven.i^ 

II.  Mode  of  singing  in  the  ancient  church. 

Both  the  Jews  in  their  temple  service,  and  the  Greeks  in 
their  idol  worship,  were  accustomed  to  sing  with  the  accom- 
paniment of  instrumental  music.  The  converts  to  Christiani- 
ty accordingly  must  have  been  familiar  with  this  mode  of 
singing.  The  word,  xpaXXsiv,  which  the  apostle  uses  in  Eph. 
5:  19,  is  supposed  by  critics  to  indicate  that  they  sang  with 

^8  The  reader  will  find  this  hymn  in  the  author's  Christian  Anti- 
quities, pp.  226,  227.  It  is  an  anapaestic  ode,  with  occasional  inter- 
changes of  spondees  and  dactyls,  which  this  measure  admits.  It  is 
supposed  also  to  consist  of  parts  which  may  have  been  sung  in  re- 
sponses. The  divisions  are  as  follows, — lines,  1 — 10, 11 — 28, 29 — 45, 
46—63. 

^^  Comp.  Jamieson,  cited  in  Christian  Antiquities,  p.  375.  It  would 
uot  be  difficult  to  adduce  original  authorities  to  this  effect,  but  we  must 
confine  ourselves  more  particularly  to  the  devotional  psalmody  of  their 
public  worship. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  371 

such  accompaniments.  The  same  is  supposed  by  some  to  be 
intimated  by  the  golden  harps  which  John,  in  the  Apocalypse, 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  four-and-twenty  elders.  But  it  is 
generally  admitted,  that  the  primitive  Christians  employed  no 
instrumental  music  in  their  religious  worship.  Neither  Am- 
brose, nor  Basil,  nor  Chrysostom,20  in  the  noble  encomiums 
which  they  severally  pronounce  upon  music,  make  any  men- 
tion of  instrumental  music.  Basil  condemns  it  as  minister- 
ing only  to  the  depraved  passions  of  men.21 

It  seems  from  the  epistle  of  Pliny,  that  the  Christians  of 
whom  he  speaks,  sang  alternately,  in  responses.  The  ancient 
hymn  from  Clement  above-mentioned,  seems  to  be  construct- 
ed with  reference  to  this  method  of  singing.  There  is,  also, 
an  ancient  but  groundless  tradition  extant  in  Socrates,22  that 
Ignatius  was  the  first  to  introduce  this  style  of  music  in  the 
church  at  Antioch.  It  was  familiar  to  the  Jews,  who  often 
sang  responsively  in  the  worship  of  the  temple.  In  some  in- 
stances, the  same  style  of  singing  may  have  been  practised  in 
the  primitive  church.  But  responsive  singing  is  generally 
allowed  not  to  have  been  in  common  use  during  the  first  three 
hundred  years  of  the  Christian  era.  This  mode  of  singing 
was  common  in  the  theatres  and  temples  of  the  Gentiles,  and 
for  this  reason  was  generally  discarded  by  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians.23  It  was  first  practised  in  the  Syrian  churches  ;  it  was 
introduced  into  the  Eastern  churches  by  Flavian  and  Diodo- 
rus,  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century  ;24  from  them  it  was 
transferred  by  Ambrose,  A.  D.  370,  to  those  of  the  West,  and 

20  Ambrose,  in  Ps.  1.  Praef  p.  740.  Basil,  in  Ps.  1.  Vol.  11.  p.  713. 
Chrysostom,  in  Ps.  41.  Vol.  V.p.l31. 

2»  Horn.  4.  Vol.  1.  p.  33. 

22  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  6.  c.  8. 

2»  Theodoras  Mopsues.  quoted  by  Nicetas  Momin.  Thesaur.  ortho- 
dox, Lib.  5.  c.  30.  in  Biblioth.  Vet.  Pat.  XXV.  p.  l^l.—Augusti, 
JDenkwUrdigkeiten,  Vol.  V.  '278. 

24  Theodoret,  Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  2.  c.  19.  p.  622. 


378.  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

it  soon  came  into  general  use  in  these  churches,  under  the 
name  of  the  Ambrosian  style  of  music.^s 

Sacred  music  must,  at  this  time,  have  consisted  only  of  a 
few  simple  airs  which  could  easily  be  learned,  and  which  by 
frequent  repetition,  became  familiar  to  all.  An  ornamented 
and  complicated  style  of  music  would  have  been  alike  in- 
compatible with  the  circumstances  of  these  Christian  wor- 
shippers, and  uncongenial  with  the  simplicity  of  their  primi- 
tive forms.^ 

In  their  songs  of  Zion,  both  old  and  young,  men  and  wo- 
men, bore  a  part.  Their  psalmody  was  the  joint  act  of  the 
whole  assembly  in  unison.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Hilary, 
A.  D.  355.27  Ambrose  remarks,  that  the  injunction  of  the 
apostle,  forbidding  women  to  speak  in  public,  relates  not  to 
singing,  **  for  this  is  delightful  in  every  age  and  suited  to  ev- 
ery sex."28  The  authority  of  Chrysostom  is  also  to  the  same 
effect.  "  It  was  the  ancient  custom,  as  it  still  is  with  us,  for 
all  to  come  together,  and  unitedly  to  join  in  singing.  The 
young  and  the  old,  rich  and  poor,  male  and  female,  bond 
and  free,  all  join  in  one  song.  .  .  .  All  worldly  distinctions 
here  cease,  and  the  whole  congregation  form  one  general 
chorus."  29 

This  interesting  part  of  their  religious  worship  was  con- 
ducted in  the  same  simplicity  which  characterized  all  their 
proceedings.  All  unitedly  sang  their  familiar  psalms  and 
hymns ;  each  was  invited,  at  pleasure,  and  according  to  his 
ability  to  lead  their  devotions  in  a  sacred  song  indited  by  him- 
self.     Such,  evidently,  was  the  custom  in  the  Corinthian 

^^  August.  Confess.  9.  c.  7.  Paulini,  Vet.  Ambros.  p.  4.  Comp  Au- 
gust!, DenkwOrdig.  V.  1.  p.  300. 

26  August!,  DenkwQrdigkeiten,  Vol.  V.  p.  288. 

27  Comment,  in  Ps.  65.  p.  174. 

2»  In  Ps.  1.  Praef.741.     Comp.  Hexaemeron,  Lib.  3.  c.  5.  p.  42. 

29  Hom.  11.  Vol.  XII.  p.  349.  Horn.  36  in  1  Cor.  Vol.  X.  p.  340. 
Comp.  Gerbert,  Musica  Sacra,  Lib.  1.  §  11,  who  has  collected  many 
other  authorities  to  the  same  effect. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  373^ 

church.  Such  was  still  the  custom  in  the  age  of  Tertullian, 
to  which  reference  has  already  been  made.  Augustine  also 
refers  to  the  same  usage,  and  ascribes  to  divine  inspiration^o 
the  talent  which  they  manifested  in  this  extemporaneous 
psalmody. 

Such,  so  far  as  we  are  informed,  was  the  psalmody  of  the 
early  church.  It  consisted  in  part  of  the  psalms  of  David, 
and  in  part  of  hymns  composed  for  the  purpose,  and  expres- 
sive of  love  and  praise  to  God  and  to  Christ.^i  Few  in  num- 
ber, and  sung,  in  rude  and  simple  airs,  they  yet  had  wonder- 
ful power  over  those  primitive  saints.  The  sacred  song- 
inspired  their  devotions  both  in  the  public  and  private  worship 
of  God.  At  their  family  board  it  quickened  their  gratitude 
God,  who  gave  them  their  daily  bread.  It  enlivened  their 
domestic  and  social  intercourse;  it  relieved  the  weariness  of 
their  daily  labor ;  it  cheered  them  in  solitude,  comforted  them 
in  affliction  and  supported  them  under  persecution.  "Go 
where  you  will,"  says  Jerome,  "  the  ploughman  at  his  plough 
sings  his  joyful  hallelujahs,  the  busy  mower  regales  himself 
with  his  psalms,  and  the  vine-dresser  is  singing  one  of  the 
songs  of  David.  Such  are  our  songs, — our  love  songs,  as  they 
are  called — the  solace  of  the  shepherd  in  his  solitude,  and  of 
the  husbandman  in  his  toil. "32  Fearless  of  reproach,  of  per- 
secution, and  of  death,  they  continued,  in  the  face  of  their 
enemies,  to  sing  their  sacred  songs  in  the  streets  and  market- 
places, and  at  the  martyr's  stake.  Eusebius  declares  himself 
an  eye-witness  to  the  fact,  that  under  their  persecutions  in 
Thebais,  "they  continued  to  their  latest  breath  to  sing  psalms 
and  hymns,  and  thanksgivings  to  the  God  of  heaven. "33  And 
the  same  is  related  of  many  others  among  the  early  martyrs. 

30  Cited  by  MUnter,  Metrisch.  Offenbar.     The  sentiments,  of  Gro- 
tins  also  are  to  the  same  effect. 
3'  Neander,  Allgem.  Kirch.  Hist.  I.  S.  523,  2d  ed. 

32  Ep.  17.  ad  Marcellam.     Cited  in  Arnold's  Abbildung,  S.  174. 

33  Eccl.  Hist.  8.  c.  9. 

32 


87il  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

We  are  informed  by  Chrysostom,  that  it  was  an  ancient  cus- 
tom to  sing  the  140th  psalm  every  evening ;  and  that  the 
Christians  continued  through  life  the  constant  singing  of  this 
psalm.34  The  song  of  Zion  was  a  sacred  fountain,  which, 
like  living  waters  in  a  desert,  sustained  in  this  barren  wil- 
derness the  growth  and  vigor  of  primitive  piety,  and  over- 
spread with  perpetual  verdure  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 
On  this  point  the  sentiments  of  Herder  are  peculiarly  interest- 
ing ;  and  no  one  can  speak  with  more  authority  respecting 
the  psalmody  of  the  ancient  church.  Speaking  of  the  ear- 
liest hymns  of  the  Latin  church,  after  remarking  that  they 
exhibit  little  poetic  talent  or  classic  taste,  he  adds,  "  But  who 
can  deny  their  influence  and  power  over  the  soul  ?  These 
sacred  hymns  of  many  hundred  years'  standing,  and  yet  at 
every  repetition  still  new  and  unimpaired  in  interest — what  a 
blessing  have  they  been  to  poor  human  nature !  They  go 
with  the  solitary  into  his  cell,  and  attend  the  afflicted  in  dis- 
tress, in  want,  and  to  the  grave.  "While  singing  these,  one 
forgets  his  toil,  and  his  fainting,  sorrowful  spirit  soars  in  hea- 
venly joys  to  another  world.  Back  to  earth  he  comes  to  la- 
bor, to  toil,  to  suffer  in  silence  and  to  conquer.  How  rich 
the  boon,  how  great  the  power  of  these  hymns."35  He  pro- 
ceeds to  say,  that  there  is  in  these  an  efficacy  and  power  which 
lighter  songs,  which  philosophy  itself  can  never  have;  a 
power  which  is  not  ascribable  to  anything  new  or  striking 
in  sentiment,  or  powerful  in  expression.  And  then  raises 
the  question,  **  whence  then  have  they  this  mighty  power  ? 

34  Clirysost.  in  Ps.  140.  Tom.  5.  p.  427. 

35  Augustine  gives  the  following  account  of  the  power  of  this 
music  over  him  on  the  occasion  of  his  baptism.  "  Oh  how  freely  was 
I  made  to  weep  by  these  hymns  and  spiritual  songs ;  transported  by 
the  voices  of  the  congregation  sweetly  singing.  The  melody  of  their 
voices  filled  my  ear,  and  divine  truth  was  poured  into  my  heart. 
Then  burned  the  sacred  flame  of  devotion  in  my  soul,  and  gushing 
tears  flowed  from  my  eyes,  as  well  they  might." — Confess.  Lib.  9. 
c.  9.  p.  118. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  375 

what  is  it  that  so  moves  us?"  To  which  he  replies,  sim- 
plicity  and  truth.  "  Embodying  tlie  great  and  simple  truths 
of  religion,  they  speak  the  sentiment  of  a  universal  creed — 
they  are  the  expression  of  one  heart  and  one  faith.  The 
greater  part  are  suitable  to  be  sung  on  all  occasions,  and  daily 
to  be  repeated.  Others  are  adapted  to  certain  festivals ;  and  as 
these  return  in  endless  succession,  so  the  sacred  song  perpet- 
ually repeats  the  Christian  faith.  Though  rude,  and  void  of 
refined  taste,  they  all  speak  to  the  heart ;  and,  by  ceaseless  re- 
petition, sink  deep  the  impress  of  truth.  Like  these,  the 
sacred  song  should  ever  be  the  simple  offering  of  nature,  an 
incense  of  sweet  odors,  perpetually  recurring,  with  a  fra- 
grance that  suffers  no  abatement."36  Such  is  the  simple 
power  of  truth  wrought  into  the  soul  by  the  hallowed  devo- 
tions of  the  sanctuary.  Striking  the  deepest  principles  of 
our  nature,  stirring  the  strongest  passions  of  the  heart,  and 
mingling  with  our  most  tender  recollections  and  dearest 
hopes,  is  it  strange  that  the  simple  truths  and  rude  air  of  the 
sacred  song  should  deeply  move  us  1  So  presented,  they 
only  grow  in  interest  by  continued  repetition.  And  in  the 
lapse  of  years,  these  time-hallowed  associations  do  but  sink 
the  deeper  in  the  soul : 

"Time  but  the  impression  stronger  makes, 
As  streams  their  channels  deeper  wear." 

III.  Changes  in  the  psalmody  of  the  church. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  centuries  from  the  fourth  onward, 
several  variations  were  introduced  in  the  mode  of  performing 
this  part  of  public  worship,  the  effect  of  which  was  to  with- 
draw the  people  from  any  direct  participation  in  it,  and  to 
destroy  in  a  great  degree  its  moral  power. 

1.  The  first  of  these  changes  has  been  already  mentioned, 
singing  alternately  by  responses.     This  was  introduced  into 

36  Briefe  zur  Beforderung  der  Humanitat.  7.  Samml.  S.  28  sq. 
Cited  by  Augusti,  DenkwOrdigkeiten,  Vol.  V.  S.  296,297. 


376 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


the  Syriac  churches,  afterwards  into  the  Eastern  church,  and 
finally,  into  the  Western,  by  Ambrose.  In  this  the  congre- 
gation still  bore  some  part,  all  uniting  in  the  chorus,  and 
singing  the  responses. 

2.  The  appointment  o^  singers  as  a  distinct  class  of  officers 
in  the  church,  for  this  part  of  religious  worship,  marks  another 
alteration  in  the  psalmody  of  the  church.  These  were  first 
appointed  in  the  fourth  century.  But  the  people  continued, 
for  a  century  or  more,  to  enjoy  their  ancient  privilege  of  all 
singing  together. 

3.  Various  restrictions  were  from  time  to  time  laid  upon 
the  use  of  hymns  of  human  composition^  in  distinction  from 
the  inspired  psalms  of  David.  Heretics  of  every  name  had 
their  sacred  hymns,  suited  to  their  own  religious  belief,  which 
had  great  effect  in  propagating  their  errors.  To  resist  their 
encroachments,  the  established  church  was  driven  to  the  ne- 
cessity, either  of  cultivating  and  improving  its  own  psalmody, 
or  of  opposing  its  authority  to  stay  the  progress  of  this  evil. 
The  former  was  the  expedient  of  Ambrose,  Hilary,  Gregory 
Nazianzen,  Chrysostom,  Augustine,  etc.  But  the  other  al- 
ternative in  turn  was  also  attempted.  The  churches  by  ec- 
clesiastical authority  were  restricted  to  the  use  of  the  Psalter 
and  other  canonical  songs  of  the  Scriptures.  All  hymns  of 
merely  human  composition  were  prohibited,  as  of  a  dangerous 
tendency  and  unsuitable  to  the  purposes  of  public  worship. 
The  synod  of  Laodicea,  A.  D.  344-- 346,  c.  59,  passed  a  de- 
cree to  that  effect.  The  decree  was  not,  however,  fully  en- 
forced. But  this  and  similar  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  clergy, 
had  the  effect  to  discourage  the  use  of  such  religious  songs. 
The  Arians  of  that  age  also  opposed  these  ancient  sacred 
hymns,  for  a  different  reason,  and  cultivated  a  higher  style  of 
sacred  music. 

4.  The  introduction  of  instrumental  music.  The  tenden- 
cy of  this  was  to  secularize  the  music  of  the  church,  and  to 
encourage  singing  by  a  choir.     Such  musical   accompani- 


PSALMODY  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  377 

ments  were  gradually  introduced  ;  but  they  can  hardly  be  as- 
signed to  a  period  earlier  than  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 
Organs  were  unknown  in  church  until  the  eighth  or  ninth 
century.  Previous  to  this  they  had  their  place  in  the  theatre, 
rather  than  in  the  church.  They  were  never  regarded  with 
favor  in  the  Eastern  church,  and  were  vehemently  opposed  in 
many  places  in  the  West.  In  Scotland  no  organ  is  allowed, 
to  this  day,  except  in  a  few  Episcopal  churches.  "  In  the 
English  convocation,  held  A.  D.  1562,  in  queen  Elizabeth's 
time,  for  settling  of  the  liturgy,  the  retaining  of  organs  was 
carried  only  by  a  casting  vote." 

5.  The  introduction  ofprofane,  secular  music  into  the  church 
was  one  of  the  principal  means  of  corrupting  the  psalmody  of 
the  church.  An  artificial,  theatrical  style  of  music,  having  no 
affinity  to  the  worship  of  God,  began  to  take  the  place  of 
those  solemn  airs  which  before  had  inspired  the  devotions  of 
His  people.  The  music  of  the  theatre  was  transferred  to  the 
church;  which,  accordingly,  became  the  scene  of  theatrical 
pomp  and  display,  rather  than  the  house  of  prayer  and  of 
praise,  to  inspire,  by  its  appropriate  and  solemn  rites,  the 
spiritual  worship  of  God.  The  consequences  of  indulging 
this  depraved  taste  for  secular  music  in  the  church  are  exhibi- 
ted by  Neander  in  the  following  extract.  "  We  have  to  re- 
gret, that  both  in  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  church,  their 
sacred  music  had  already  assumed  an  artificial  and  theatrical 
character,  and  was  so  far  removed  from  its  original  simplicity, 
that  even  in  the  fourth  century,  the  abbot  Pambo  of  Egypt 
complained  that  heathen  melodies,  [accompanied  as  it  seems 
with  the  action  of  the  hands  and  the  feet,]  had  been  intro- 
duced into  their  church  psalmody."37  Isidorus  of  Pelusium, 
also  complained  of  the  theatrical  singing,  especially  of  the 
women,  which,  instead  of  inducing  penitence  for  sin,  tended 

'^"^  MtXioSovaiv  aofiara  xal  ^v&fiiiovaiv  ij^ove  asiovai  xtlgae  iial/Li€~ 
ra^aivovat  {^dklovoi  ?)  noSag. — Scriptores  Ecclesiastici,  De  MU' 
sica,  T.  1.  1784.  p.  3. 

32* 


378  THE  TRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

much  more  to  awaken  sinful  desires.^s  Jerome,  also,  in  re- 
marking upon  Eph.  5 :  19,  says,  "  May  all  hear  it  whose 
business  it  is  to  sing  in  the  church.  Not  with  the  voice,  but 
with  the  heart,  we  sing  praises  to  God.  Not  like  the  come- 
dians should  they  raise  their  sweet  and  liquid  notes  to  enter- 
tain the  assembly  with  theatrical  songs  and  melodies  in  the 
church  ;  but  the  fear  of  God,  piety,  and  the  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures,  should  inspire  our  songs.  Then  would  not  the 
voice  of  the  singers,  but  the  utterance  of  the  divine  word,  ex- 
pel the  evil  spirit  from  those  who  like  Saul  are  possessed  with 
it.  But  instead  of  this,  that  same  spirit  is  invited  rather  to 
the  possession  of  those  who  have  converted  the  house  of  God 
into  a  pagan  theatre. "^^ 

The  assembly  continued  to  bear  some  part  in  the  psalmody 
of  the  church,  even  after  this  had  become  a  cultivated 
theatrical  art,  for  the  practice  of  which,  the  singers  were  ap- 
pointed, and  trained  as  a  distinct  order  in  the  church.  The 
congregation  may  have  continued  for  a  time  to  join  in  the 
chorus  or  in  responses.  But  is  it  conceivable  that  a  promiscu- 
ous assembly  could  unite  in  such  theatrical  music  as  is  here 
the  subject  of  complaint  ?  Was  not  music,  executed  in  this 
manner,  an  art  which  must  require  in  its  performers  a  de- 
gree of  skill  altogether  superior  to  that  which  all  the  members 
of  a  congregation  could  be  expected  to  possess  1 

6.  The  practice  of  sacred  music,  as  an  ornamental,  culti- 
vated art,  took  it  yet  more  completely  from  the  people.  It 
became  an  art  which  only  a  few  could  learn.  The  many, 
instead  of  uniting  their  hearts  and  their  voices  in  the  songs 
of  Zion,  could  only  sit  coldly  by  as  spectators.  A  promis- 
cuous assembly,  very  obviously,  could  not  be  expected  to 
bear  a  prominent  part  in  such  theatrical  music  as  is  here  the 
subject  of  consideration.     They  might,  indeed,  unite  in  some 

3«  Isidor.  Pelus.  C.  1.  Ep.  90.  Biblioth.  Vet.  Pat.  Vol.  VII.  p.  543. 
39  Comment,  in  Ep.  Eph.  Lib.  3.  c.  5.  T.  4.  p.  387.  ed.  Martianay. 
Cited  in  Allgem.  Kirch.  Gesch.  II.  S.681,2d  ed. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRlRHTIVE  CHURCH.  379 

simple  chorus,  and  are  generally  understood  not  to  have  been 
entirely  excluded  from  all  participation  in  the  psalmody  of 
the  church  until  the  sixth  or  seventh  century.  Gregory  the 
Great  was  instrumental  in  bringing  singing  schools  into  re- 
pute, and  after  him  Charlemagne.  Organs  came  about  this 
time  into  use.  But  in  the  early  periods  of  the  Christian 
church,  instrumental  music  was  not  in  use  in  religious  wor- 
ship. 

7.  The  clergy  eventually  claimed  the  right  of  performing 
the  sacred  music  as  a  privilege  exclusively  their  own.  This 
expedient  shut  out  the  people  from  any  participation  in  this 
delightful  part  of  public  worship. 

Finally,  the  more  effectually  to  exclude  the  people,  the 
singing  was  in  Latin.  Where  that  was  not  the  vernacular 
tongue,  this  rule  was  of  necessity  an  effectual  bar  to  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  people  in  this  part  of  public  worship.  Be- 
sides, the  doctrine  was  industriously  propagated  that  the 
Latin  was  the  appropriate  language  of  devotion,  which  be- 
came not  the  profane  lips  of  the  laity,  in  these  religious  so- 
lemnities ;  but  only  those  of  the  clergy,  who  had  been  con- 
secrated to  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  The  Reformation 
again  restored  to  the  people  their  ancient  and  inestimable 
right.  But  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  it  is  still  divided 
between  the  chants  of  the  priests  and  the  theatrical  perfor- 
mances of  the  choir,  which  effectually  pervert  the  devotional 
ends  of  sacred  music. 


REMARKS. 

\.  To  accomplish,  in  the  happiest  manner,  the  devotional 
ends  of  sacred  music,  the  congregation  should  unitedly  join 
in  it. 

In  advancing  an  opinion  so  much  opposed  to  the  taste  of 
the  age,  the  writer  has  no  expectation  that  it  will  be  received 
with  the  consideration  which,  in  his  opinion,  its  importance 


886 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


demands.  For  he  cannot  resist  the  conviction,  that  in  sep- 
arating the  congregation  generally  from  a  participation  in 
this  delightful  part  of  public  worship,  we  have  taken  the 
most  effectual  measure,  as  did  the  Catholic  clergy  in  the 
period  which  has  passed  under  review,  to  destroy  the  devo' 
tional  influence  of  sacred  music.  What,  may  we  ask,  was 
the  secret  of  the  magic  charm  of  sacred  music,  in  the  early 
Christian  church  ?  Whence  its  mighty  influence  over  those 
primitive  saints  1  It  was,  that  the  great  truths  of  religion 
were  embodied  in  their  psalmody,  and  set  to  such  simple  airs 
that  all  could  blend  their  voices  and  their  hearts  in  the  sacred 
song ;  and,  though  they  may  have  exhibited  little  of  what 
is  denominated  musical  taste,  or  of  the  symphonies  of  a 
modern  oratorio,  they  offered  unto  God  the  melody  of  the 
heart,  by  far  the  noblest  praise.  Their  sacred  songs  became, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  ballads  of  the  people,40  sung  at  all  times, 
and  upon  every  occasion.  Religious  truth  became  inwrought 
into  the  very  soul  of  these  Christians  by  their  sacred  songs. 
It  entered,  not  only  into  their  public  devotions,  but  into 
their  family  worship,  their  domestic  pleasures,  and  their  so- 
cial entertainments.  Thus  religious  truth  addressed  itself 
to  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  a  manner  the  most  persuasive 
possible.  It  became  associated,  both  with  the  most  endear- 
ing recollections  of  the  heart,  and  its  most  hallowed  asso- 
ciations. Will  the  music  of  our  churches,  however  skilfully 
played  upon  the  organ,  or  sweetly  sung  by  a  few  select 
voices,  ever  so  move  the  heart,  and  mould  the  character  of 
the  whole  society  7  No ;  like  the  cold  corruscations  of  the 
Northern  lights,  it  does  but  amuse  and  delight  the  spectator 
for  a  while,  and  then  passes  away,  leaving  the  bosom  dark 
and  cheerless  as  before.  But  when  the  music  of  the  church 
is  let  down  from  the  orchestra  to  the  congregation  below, 

4"  One  has  wisely  said, "  Let  me  make  the  ballads  of  the  people, 
and  1  care  not  who  makes  their  laws."  But  connected  with  religion 
their  power  is  immensely  increased. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  381 

and  runs  with  its  quickening  influence,  from  man  to  man, 
until  all  feel  their  soul  ascending  in  the  song  which  they 
unitedly  raise  to  God,  then  it  is  that  the 

"  Heart  grows  warm  with  holy  fire, 
And  kindles  with  a  pure  desire." 

No  one  can  witness  the  worship  of  the  churches  in  Ger- 
many, without  being  struck  with  the  devotional  influence  of 
their  psalmody.  They  are  a  nation  of  singers.  Rarely  is 
one  seen  in  the  church,  whether  old  or  young,  who  does  not 
join  in  the  song  ;^i  and  with  an  evident  interest  which  it  has 
not  been  the  good  fortune  of  the  writer  often  to  witness,  or 
to  experience  in  the  churches  of  America.  In  our  country 
this  subject  is  encompassed  with  intrinsic  difficulties  which 
we  pass  without  remark.  But  were  it  possible  ever  to  make 
the  modification  under  consideration  in  our  church-music, 
even  at  the  expense  of  the  musical  skill  and  talent  which 
are  now  displayed,  we  must  believe  that  much  would  be  gain- 
ed to  the  devotional  influence  of  our  sacred  music.     What 

*^  The  singing  is  the  most  devotional  part  of  the  religious  worship 
of  the  Ijutheran  and  Evangelical  churches  of  Germany,  and  in  pro- 
portion to  the  other  parts  of  worship  is  extended  to  an  inordinate 
length.  For  example,  on  one  occasion  in  the  ordinary  services  of  the 
Sabbath,  the  singing  before  sermon  was  observed,  by  the  writer,  to  oc- 
cupy ^i!y  minutes.  In  the  course  of  this  time,  two  prayers  were  of- 
fered, neither  of  which  occupied  the  space  of  three  minutes,  a.nd  two 
portions  of  Scripture  were  read,  which  did  not  occupy  more  than  five 
minutes.  AH  the  prayers,  including  the  litany,  did  not  exceed  ten 
minutes  in  length;  while  the  singing  employed  near  an  hour.  The 
prayers  are  liturgical  forms  to  a  great  extent,  briefly  rehearsed  at  dif- 
ferent times  by  the  clergyman,  in  which  the  congregation  seem  not 
to  be  deeply  interested.  The  singing  is  the  act  of  the  congregation 
unitedly,  with  which  they  are  never  weary,  with  which,  I  had  almost 
said,  they  never  appear  to  be  satisfied.  And  yet  the  hymns  in  com- 
mon use  have  but  very  humble  claims  to  consideration  for  the  poetic 
taste  which  they  display.  In  this  respect  they  would  hardly  equal  the 
antiquated  collect  of  Tate  and  Brady.  With  the  Divine  Songs  of 
Watts,  and  with  our  lyric  poetry  generally,  they  bear  no  comparison. 


382  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

though,  in  humbler  strains,  and  more  simple  airs,  the  church- 
es raise  to  God  their  sacred  songs  of  praise  ?  What  if  some 
discordant  notes  occasionally  disturb  the  harmony  of  the  mu- 
sic? if  still  they  do  but  fulfil  the  apostolical  injunction,  sing- 
ing and  making  melody  in  their  hearts  to  the  Lord,  the  no- 
blest, the  best,  the  only  true  end,  of  sacred  music  is  accom- 
plished. Such  are  the  strains  which  He  who  inspires  the  songs 
of  heaven  delights  most  to  hear  : 

"  Compared  with  these,  Italian  trills  are  tame  ; 
The  tickled  ears  no  heart- felt  raptures  raise." 

2.  Christian  psalmody  was  one  of  the  principal  means  of 
promoting  the  devotions  of  the  primitive  church. 

Enough  remains  on  record  in  relation  to  this  subject,  to 
show  what  interest  these  venerable  saints  and  martyrs  had  in 
their  sacred  songs.  Enough,  to  show  what  power  their  psalm- 
ody possessed  to  confirm  their  faith,  to  inspire  their  devotions, 
to  bring  them  nigh  to  God,  and  to  arm  them  with  more  than 
mortal  courage  for  the  fiery  conflict  to  which  they  were  sum- 
moned in  defence  of  their  faith.  Has  this  most  interesting 
and  important  part  of  religious  worship  its  just  influence  with 
us?  Is  its  quickening  power  shed  abroad  over  our  assem- 
blies, like  the  spirit  of  heavenly  grace,  warming  the  cold  heart 
into  spiritual  life,  and  reviving  its  languid  affections,  as  if  with 
a  fresh  anointing  from  on  high  ? 

3.  Christian  psalmody  affords  the  happiest  means  of  en 
forcing  the  doctrinal  truths  of  religion. 

Reason  with  man,  and  you  do  but  address  his  understand- 
ing; you  gain,  it  may  be,  his  cold  convictions.  Embody  the 
truth  in  a  creed,  or  confession  of  faith ;  to  this  he  may  also 
yield  assent,  and  remain  as  unmoved  as  before.  But  express 
it  in  the  sacred  song.  Let  it  mingle  with  his  devotions  in  the 
sanctuary,  and  in  the  family  ;  let  his  most  endeared  associa- 
tions cluster  around  it,  as  the  central  point,  not  only  of  his 
faith,  but  of  his  hopes,  his  joys ;  and  what  before  was  a  spec- 


PSALMODY  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  383 

ulative  belief,  has  become  his  living  sentiment, — the  govern- 
ing principle  both  of  the  understanding  and  the  heart.  The 
single  book  of  psalms  and  hymns,  therefore,  does  unspeaka- 
bly more  to  form  the  doctrinal  sentiments  of  men,  than  all 
the  formularies,  creeds,  and  confessions  of  polemics  and  di- 
vines. "  The  one,"  says  Augusti,  "  is  chiefly  for  the  minis- 
ter ;  the  other  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  is,  as  you 
may  say,  his  daily  creed.'"^^  The  heart,  in  religion,  as  in  ev- 
erything else,  governs  the  understanding.  The  sacred  song 
that  wins  the  one,  fails  not  also  to  convince  and  to  control 
the  other.  With  great  propriety,  therefore,  has  the  hymn- 
book  long  been  styled,  the  Layman's  BibleA^ 

Every  religious  denomination,  accordingly,  has  its  hymn- 
book  ;  and  in  ancient  times  the  same  was  true  of  every  reli- 
gious sect.  The  spiritual  songs  of  the  primitive  Christians 
were  almost  exclusively  of  a  doctrinal  character.  "In  fact, 
almost  all  the  prayers,  doxologies,  and  hymns  of  the  ancient 
church  are  nothing  else  than  prayers  and  supplications  to  the 
triune  God,  or  to  Jesus  Christ.  They  were  generally  alto- 
gether doctrinal.  The  prayers  and  psalms,  of  merely  a  mo- 
ral character,  which  the  modern  church  has  in  great  abun- 
dance, in  the  ancient,  were  altogether  unknown. "^4  And  yet 
modern  Christians  have  not  been  inattentive  to  this  mode  of 
defending  their  faith.  Their  different  collections  of  psalms 
and  hymns  abound  with  those  that  are  expressive  merely  of 

42  DenkwQrdigkeiten,  V.  S.  411. 

43  Augusti,  DenkwOrdigkeiten,  V.  S.  411  ;  also,  277.  Augustine 
recognizes  the  same  sentiment,  as  follows  : — Cum  reminiscor  lachry- 
raas  meas  quas  fudi  ad  cantus  ecclesiae  tuae  in  primordiis  recupera- 
tae  fidei  meae,  et  nunc  ipso  quod  moveor,  non  cantu,  sed  rebus  quae 
cantantur,  cum  liquida  voce  et  convenientissima  modulatione  cantan- 
tur,  magnam  instituti  hujus  utilitatem  rursus  agnosco.  Tamen  cum 
mihi  accidit  ut  me  amplius  cantus  quam  res  quae  canitur  moveat,  poe- 
naliter  me  peccare  confiteor,  et  tunc  mallem  non  audire  cantantem. 
—  Confess.  L.  10.  c.  33.  Vol.  1.  p.  141. 

**  Augusti,  DenkwQrdigkeiten,  Vol.  V.  p.  417. 


384  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

points  of  doctrine,  at  the  expense,  often,  of  all  poetical  im- 
agery or  expression.45 

4.  Christian  psalmody  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  means 
of  promulgating  a  religious  system  among  a  people. 

This  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  successful  expedients 
for  spreading  the  ancient  heresies  of  the  church.  Bardasa- 
nes,  the  famous  Syrian  Gnostic,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  se- 
cond century,  made  this  the  principal  means  of  propagating 
his  sentiments.  He  composed  songs  expressive  of  the  tenets 
which  he  would  inculcate,  and  adapted  them  to  music,  to  be 
sung  by  the  people.  His  son,  Harmonius,  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  his  father;  and  such,  according  to  Augusti,  "was 
the  influence  of  their  efforts,  that  the  Syrian  church  was  well 
nigh  overrun  with  their  errors."46  And  not  only  the  Gnos- 
tics, but  the  Manicheans,  the  Donatists,  and  almost  every  he- 
retical sect,  employed,  with  surprising  success,  the  same 
means  of  promulgating  their  tenets.  Taught  by  their  exam- 
ple, the  orthodox  finally  sought,  in  the  same  manner,  to  resist 
the  progress  of  their  errors.  Such  were  the  efforts  of  Eph- 
raem  the  Syrian,  Hilary,  Augustine,  and  others.'^^ 

Luther. well  understood  this  method  of  propagating  truth 
and  refuting  error,  and   employed   it  with  a  skilful  hand. 

*^  For  example,  the  successive  stanzas  of  one  of  the  hymns  in  the 
Lutheran  collection,  begin,  each,  with  one  of  the  terms  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  creed.  1.  I  believe  in  God  the  Father,  etc.  2.  I  believe 
in  God  the  Son,  etc.     3.  I  believe  in  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  etc. 

^  Composuit  carmina  et  ea  modulationibus  aptabit,  finxit  psalmos 
induxitqne  metra,  et  mensuris  ponderibusque  distribuit  voces.  Ita 
propinavit  simplicibus  venenum  dulcedine  temperatum  ;  aegroti  quip- 
pe  cibum  recusabant  salubrem.  Davidem  in)itatus  est,  ut  ejus  pul- 
chritudine  ornaretur  ejusque  similitudine  commendaretur.  Centum 
et  quinquaginta  composuit  hie  quoque  psalmos.  Ephraem  Syrus,  in 
Hymn  53,  p.  553.  Comp.  Sozomen,  h.  e.  3.  c.  16.  Theodor.  Lib.  4. 
c.  29;  also,  1.  c.  22.—D(mkiciirdig/feiten,  Vol.  V.  S.  272,  273. 

«  Augusti,  DenkwOrdigkeiten,  Vol.  V.  S.  275,  276,  414,415.  For 
further  information  on  this  point,  see  J.  Andr.  Schmidt.  De  mode 
propagandi  religionem  per  carmina.  Helmst.  1720.  4to. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHDRCH.  385 

For  his  great  work  he  possessed  remarkable  qualifications, 
which  are  seldom  united  in  one  man.  Among  his  varied 
accomplishments,  not  the  least  important  were  his  poetical 
and  musical  talents.  He  was  taught  music  with  the  first 
rudiments  of  his  native  language ;  and  when,  as  a  wander- 
ing minstrel,  he  earned  his  daily  bread  by  exercising  his  mu- 
sical powers,  in  singing  before  the  doors  of  the  rich,  in  the 
streets  of  Magdeburg  and  Eisenach,  he  was  as  truly  preparing 
for  the  future  Reformer,  as  when,  a  retired  monk  in  the 
cloister  at  Erfurt,  he  was  storing  his  mind  witli  the  truths  of 
revelation,  with  which  to  refute  the  errors  and  expose  the 
delusions  of  papacy.  One  of  his  earliest  efforts  at  reform 
was  the  publication  of  a  psalm-book,  A.  D.  1524,  com- 
posed and  set  to  music  chiefly  by  himself'^Q  The  songs  of 
Luther  confirmed  the  Christian's  faith  and  soothed  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  martyr  at  the  stake.  One  of  his  earliest 
hymns  he  consecrated  to  commemorate  the  martyrs  of  Brus- 
sels ;  and  the  whole  reformed  church  felt  the  sustaining  in- 
fluence of  this  single  song  which  we  give  in  the  margin.'^^ 

'*^  This  psalm-book  is  usually  ascribed  to  Luther,  though  it  bears 
not  his  name.  It  contained  eight  psalms,  of  which,  however,  but 
one  bears  his  name.  But  he  published. in  1525,  two  editions,  the  first 
containing  sixteen,  and  the  other  forty.  In  the  collection  of  sacred 
music  in  use  by  the  Lutheran  churches  in  Germany,  consisting  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty-three  tunes,  twenty-jive  are  ascribed  to  Luther, 
either  as  the  author  of  them,  or  as  having  been  revised  by  him,  and 
adapted  to  the  use  of  the  church.  The  authorship  of  a  few  is  doubt- 
ful, though  they  are  assigned  to  that  age. 

*^  Flung  on  the  heedless  winds 
Or  oil  the  waters  cast, 
Their  ashes  shall  be  watched 
And  gathered  at  the  last. 
And  from  that  scattered  dust, 
Around  us  and  abroad 
Shall  spring  a  plenteous  seed 
Of  witnesses  for  God. 

Jesus  hath  now  received 
Their  latest  living  breath, — 
33 


386 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


His  associate  Hans  Sach  cooperated  with  him  by  publishing 
in  1523,  the  "  Nightingale  of  Wittcmbcrg."  His  efforts 
at  an  earlier  period  at  Nuremberg  had  according  to  D'Au- 
bigne,  great  influence  in  promoting  the  work  of  the  Reform- 
ation. "  From  a  humble  workshop  situated  at  one  of  the 
gates  of  the  imperial  city  of  Nuremberg  proceeded  sounds 
that  resounded  through  all  Germany  preparing  the  minds  of 
men  for  a  new  era,  and  everywhere  endearing  to  the  people 
the  great  revolution  that  was  then  in  progress.  The  spiritual 
songs  of  Hans  Sachs,  his  Bible  in  verse  powerfully  assisted 
this  work.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  difficult  to  say  to  which  it 
was  most  indebted,  the  Prince,  Elector  of  Saxony  adminis- 
trator of  the  empire,  or  the  shoemaker  of  Nuremberg !" 

The  psalms  of  the  church,  in  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, were  wholly  of  a  doctrinal  character.  "  Hymns  merely 
inculcating  moral  truths,  which  are  so  abundant  in  modern 
collections,  were  unknown  at  this  earFy  period.  As  now,  in 
symbols  and  catechisms,  we  have  an  abstract  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  so  then,  was  the  substance  of  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith  embodied  in  their  divine 
songs."^o  Weapons  so  simple  were  employed  with  surpris- 
ing effect  by  the  great  Reformer.  Even  his  enemies  ac- 
knowledged their  hated  power.  "  These  hymns,  many  of 
which  are  manufactured  in  Luther's  own  laboratory,  and  sung 
in  the  vernacular  tongue  of  the  people, — it  is  wonderful  what 
power  they  have  in  propagating  the  doctrines  of  Luther ! 
Some  of  them  doctrinal  in  their  character,  others  imitating 
devotional  psalms,  they  repeat  and  blazon  abroad  the  faults 

Yet  vain  is  Satan's  boast 

Of  victory  in  their  death. 

Still — still— though  dead  they  speak, 

And  trumpet  tongued  proclaim 

To  many  a  wakening  land, 

The  one  availing  name. 

Cited  from  D'Aubigni. 
»  Augusti,  DenkwUrdigkeiten,  Vol.  V.  S.  287. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  387 

of  the  church,  whether  real  or  imaginary.''^!  Such  is  the 
mighty  power  of  sacred  psalmody  in  propagating  the  Chris- 
tian faith : 

"  These  weapons  of  our  holy  war, 
Of  what  almighty  force  they  are  !" 

Have  our  missionaries  employed,  with  due  diligence  and  skiU, 
this  mode  of  warfare,  and  applied  these  weapons  with  suffi- 
cient success  to  the  assault  upon  the  strongholds  of  Satan  ? 
5.  Is  not  the  influence  of  sacred  music  too  much  over- 
looked as  a  means  of  moral  discipline,  in  our  efforts  to  ed- 
ucate the  young,  and  to  reform  the  vicious? 

"  Cantilenae  vernaculo  idiomate,  quarum  plurimae  ex  ipsius  Lu- 
theri  officina  sunt  profectae,  mirum  est,  quam  promoveant  rem  Lu- 
theranani.  Quaedam  dogmaticae,  aliae  aemulantur  psalmos  pios  ; — 
recitant  exagitantque  Christianorum  vitia  sive  vera,  sive  ficta.  Tho7n- 
05  rfe  Je5M,  (Didacus  Davila)  Thcsaur.  sapient,  divinae^  T.  2.  p,  541. 
Luther  inserted  in  the  title-page  of  his  hymn-book,  published  at  Wit- 
tenberg, in  1543,  the  following  stanza: 

"  Viel  falscher  Meister  jetzt  Lieder  dichten, 
Siche  dich  for,  und  lern'  sie  recht  richten. 
Wo  Gott  hinbauet  sein'  Kirch'  und  sein  Wort, 
Da  will  der  Teufel  seyn  mit  Trug  und  Mord." 

Augusti^  Denkwnrdigkeiten^  Vol.  V.  S.  287. 
The  influence  of  congregational  singing  in  England  at  an  early 
period  in  the  reformation  is  noticed  by  bishop  Jewel.  "  A  change 
now  appears  visible  among  the  people  ;  which  nothing  promotes  more 
than  inviting  them  to  sing  psalms.  This  was  begun  in  one  church 
in  London,  and  did  quickly  spread  itself,  not  only  through  the  city, 
but  in  neighboring  places.  Sometimes  at  Paul's  Cross  there  will  be 
six  thousand  singing  together."  By  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  1548, 
the  practice  of  using  any  psalm  openly  "  in  churches,  chapels,  orato- 
rios and  other  places"  was  authorized.  At  length,  after  being  popu- 
lar for  a  while  in  France  and  Germany,  among  both  Roman  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants,  as  psalmody  came  to  be  discountenanced  by  the 
former  as  an  open  declaration  of  Lutheranism,  so,  in  England,  psalm- 
singing  was  soon  abandoned  to  the  Puritans,  and  became  almost  a  pe- 
culiarity of  JNonconformity." — Condor's  View  of  all  Religions,  p. 
321.  Note. 


388  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Has  it  the  place  which  its  great  importance  demands  in 
our  primary  schools  and  higher  seminaries  of  learning  1  In 
Germany  the  child  is  universally  taught  to  sing  in  the  pri- 
mary school.  Singing  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  instruction 
in  these  schools  as  arithmetic  or  grammar.  This  is  one  of 
the  blessings  which  they  owe  to  their  great  reformer.  "  Next 
to  theology,"  said  Luther,  "  it  is  to  Music  that  I  give  the 
highest  place,  and  the  greatest  honor.^^  A  schoolmaster 
ought  to  know  how  to  sing ;  without  this  qualification  I 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him."  Can  a  more  amiable 
provision  be  made  for  the  future  happiness  of  the  child  than 
to  train  his  heart  and  ear  for  the  delights  of  music  by  teach- 
ing his  infant  lips  to  sing  the  praises  of  his  God  and  Saviour  ? 

In  our  admirable  system  of  prison  discipline,  has  it  its 
proper  place  among  the  reforming  influences  which  are  em- 
ployed to  quicken  the  conscience  of  the  hardened  transgres- 
sor, and  turn  him  from  the  error  of  his  ways  ?^3  Has  the 
power  of  sacred  music  been  sufficiently  employed  to  restore 
the  insane  1  We  know  the  magic  power  of  David's  harp  to 
tame  the  ferocious  and  frenzied  spirit  of  Saul ;  will  not  the 
same  means  have  a  similar  effect,  to  soothe  and  to  tranquil- 
ize  the  poor  maniac's  bewildered  soul,  and  to  restore  him 
to  his  right  mind  ?  We  submit  these  inquiries  respectfully 
to  the  careful  consideration  of  the  reader,  and  leave  the  sub- 
ject for  the  discussion  of  abler  pens. 

Finally.  This  subject  suggests  the  importance  of  simpli- 
city in  church  psalmody. 

Let  our  sacred  songs  be  simple  in  their  poetry.     Such  is 

*2  Ich  gebe  nach  der  Theologia,  der  Musica  den  nahesten  Locum 
und  hochste  Ehre.  Opp.  W.  22.  S.  2^3.— Cited  bij  D'Jiubign6. 

^3  "  I  always  keep  these  little  rogues  singing  at  their  work,"  said 
a  distinguished  overseer  of  an  institution  for  juvenile  offenders,  in 
Berlin,  "  1  always  keep  them  singing,  for  while  the  children  sing,  the 
devil  cannot  come  among  them  at  all ;  he  can  only  sit  out  doors  there 
and  growl ;  but  if  they  stop  singing,  in  comes  the  devil." — Prof. 
Stowe,  on  Com.  Schools^  p.  26. 


PSALMODY  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  389 

the  poetry  of  nature,  of  devotion,  of  the  Scriptures.  If  we 
would  have  the  songs  of  Zion  come  from  the  heart,  the  off- 
spring of  pure  and  deep  emotion,  if  we  would  have  them  stir 
the  souls  of  the  whole  assembly  for  heart-felt,  sympathetic 
worship,  they  must  be  indited  in  the  simplicity  of  pure  devo- 
tion. And  let  the  notes  of  sacred  music  have  the  same  de- 
lightful simplicity.  Let  them  be  adapted  to  Congregational 
singing.  Let  all  be  trained  to  sing  as  early  and  as  univer- 
sally as  they  are  taught  to  read ;  and  if  we  would  have  the 
soul  ascending  in  the  song,  let  the  whole  assembly  join  in  the 
solemn  hymn  which  they  raise  to  God.  The  primitive  church 
knew  nothing  of  a  choir,  set  apart  and  withdrawn  from  the 
congregation,  for  the  exclusive  performance  of  this  delightful 
part  of  public  worship.  "  The  Bible  knows  nothing  of  a  wor- 
ship conducted  by  a  few,  in  behalf  of  a  silent  multitude;  but 
calls  upon  everything  that  hath  breath  to  join  in  this  divine 
employ."  Have  we  done  well,  then,  in  substituting  for  the 
voice  of  all  the  people  in  the  praise  of  God,  the  voice  of  a  few 
in  a  choir  ?  For  the  sweet  simplicity  of  ancient  melodies, 
hallowed  by  a  thousand  sacred  associations,  have  we  wisely 
introduced  the  musical  display  of  modern  airs?  Have  we 
done  well  in  substituting,  even  for  the  rude  simplicity  of  our 
fathers,  if  such  you  please  to  call  it,  the  profane  and  secular 
airs  of  some  modern  harmonies  ?  After  admiring  those  noble 
portraits  of  the  great  and  revered  reformer  which  adorn  the 
galleries  of  his  native  country,  clad  in  the  easy,  simple  and 
appropriate  costume  of  his  age,  who  would  endure  the  sight 
of  that  venerable  form  dressed  out  in  the  modern  style,  so  trim 
and  sleek,  of  a  fashionable  fop  ?  With  the  same  wretched 
taste  do  we  mar,  in  attempting  to  mend  the  music  of  the 
great  masters  of  another  age,  by  conforming  it  to  the  style  of 
the  present. 

It  is  exceedingly  gratifying  to  observe  in  the  public  jour- 
nals and  current  literature  of  the  day,  the  return  of  the  pub- 
lic mind  to  a  better  taste  in  sacred  music ;  and  to  notice  that 
33* 


390  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

several  of  the  ablest  masters  in  the  country  have  entered  in 
earnest  upon  the  work  of  reform,  Heaven  speed  their  work, 
and  hasten  on  the  day,  when,  with  sweet  accord  of  hearts  and 
voices  attuned  to  the  worship  of  God,  all  shall  join  in  sing- 
ing to  his  praise  in  the  great  congregation. 


CHAPTER  XTII. 

HOMILIES  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 
Under  this  head  we  shall  direct  our  attention, 

I.  To  the  discourses  of  Christ  and  of  the  apostles. 

II.  To  the  homilies  of  the  fathers  in  the  Greek  church, 

III.  To  those  of  the  fathers  in  the  Latin  church. 

I.  The  discourses  of  Christ  and  of  the  apostles. 

The  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  in  connection  with  remarks 
and  exhortations,  constituted  a  part  of  the  social  worship  of 
the  primitive  church.  The  apostles,  wherever  they  went, 
frequented  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews,  where,  after  the  read- 
ing of  the  Scriptures,  an  invitation  was  given  to  any  one  to 
remark  upon  what  had  been  read.  In  this  way  they  took  oc- 
casion to  speak  of  Christ  and  his  doctrines  to  their  brethren. 
Their  addresses  were  occasional  and  apposite ;  varied,  with 
consummate  skill,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  hear- 
er, and  addressed,  with  great  directness  and  pungency,  to  the 
understanding  and  the  heart. 

In  the  Acts,  we  have  brief  notices  of  several  of  the  address- 
es of  Peter,  and  of  Paul,  and  of  one  from  Stephen,  from 
which  we  may  gather  a  distinct  impression  of  their  style  of 
address.  The  first  from  Peter  was  before  the  disciples,  who, 
to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  twenty,  were  assembled 
to  elect  a  substitute  in  the  place  of  the  traitor,  Judas.  Acts  1: 
15.     It  is  calculated  to  soothe  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  op- 


393  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

pressed  by  the  melancholy  end  of  this  apostate,  by  showing 
that  all  had  transpired  according  to  the  prediction  of  God's 
word,  and  to  fulfil  the  counsel  of  his  will. 

The  second  was  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the  shedding 
abroad  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Acts  2:  14. 
After  refuting  the  malicious  charge  of  having  drunk  to  ex- 
cess, he  proceeds  to  show  from  the  Scriptures,  that  all  which 
the  multitude  saw  was  only  the  fulfilment  of  ancient  prophe- 
cy ;  he  charges  them  with  having  crucified  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  whom  God  had  exalted  as  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to 
give  repentance  unto  Israel,  and  remission  of  sins.  Such  was 
the  force  of  his  cutting  reproof,  that  three  thousand  were 
brought  to  believe  in  Christ  crucified. 

His  third  address,  on  the  occasion  of  healing  the  lame  man 
in  the  temple.  Acts  iii,  was  of  the  same  character,  and  attend- 
ed with  a  similar  result.  His  fourth  and  fifth  were  delivered 
before  the  Sanhedrim,  in  defence  of  himself  and  the  apostles. 
Acts  4:  7.  5:  29.  Of  these  we  only  know  that  the  subject 
•was  the  same  as  in  the  preceding, — Christ,  wickedly  crucified 
and  slain  by  the  Jews,  and  raised  from  the  dead  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men.  Before  Cornelius  the  centurion.  Acts  6:  34, 
after  explaining  the  miraculous  manner  in  which  his  Jewish 
prejudices  had  been  overruled,  and  how  he  had  been  led  to 
see  the  comprehensive  nature  of  the  gospel  system,  he  gives 
an  outline  of  its  great  truths,  attested  by  the  Scriptures,  re- 
lating to  Christ,  to  the  resurrection  and  the  final  judgment. 
All  these  discourses  manifest  the  same  boldness  and  fervency 
of  spirit,  and  are  directed  to  produce  the  same  result — repent- 
ance for  sin,  and  faith  in  Christ. 

Stephen,  in  his  defence  before  the  Sanhedrim,  Acts  vii, 
traces  the  history  of  God's  dispensations  to  the  Jews,  and  of 
their  treatment  of  his  servants  the  prophets,  whom  they  had 
rejected  and  slain,  and  charges  them  with  having  finally  con- 
summated their  guilt  by  becoming  the  betrayers  and  murder- 
ers of  the  holy  and  just  One.     Paul,  in  his  address  at  Anti- 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  393 

och,  pursues  the  same  style ;  showing  how,  from  age  to  age, 
God  had  been  unfolding  his  purpose  to  give  salvation  to  men 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  finally  bringing  the  whole  to  bear  with 
tremendous  force  in  its  application  to  his  hearers.  "  Be- 
ware, therefore,  lest  that  come  upon  you  which  is  spoken 
in  the  prophets ;  '  Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder  and 
perish  ;  for  I  work  a  work  in  your  day,  a  work  which  ye  shall 
in  no  wise  believe,  though  a  man  declare  it  unto  you.' " 
Acts  13:  40,  41.  Time  would  fail  us  to  follow  the  apostle 
in  his  masterly  address  before  the  Areopagus  at  Athens,  Acts 
17:  22, — to  attend  to  his  affecting  interview  with  the  elders  of 
Ephesus  at  Miletus,  Acts  20 :  18,  and  to  his  admirable  de- 
fence before  the  Jews,  and  before  Festus,  and  Agrippa  the 
king.  Acts  xxii,  xxiii,  xxvi.  With  the  Greeks  he  reasoned 
as  a  Greek,  making  no  reference  to  the  Jewish  Scriptures ; 
but,  from  their  own  poets,  and  the  natural  principles  of  phi- 
losophy and  of  religion,  convincing  them  of  the  vanity  of  their 
superstitions.  With  the  Jews  he  reasoned  as  a  Jew,  out  of  their 
own  sacred  books,  and  testified  to  all,  both  Jew  and  Greek, 
the  great  doctrines  of  repentance,  and  faith  in  Christ,  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  general  judgment. 

The  addresses  of  the  apostles  are  remarkable  at  once  for 
their  simplicity  and  their  power.  None  ever  preached  with 
such  effect  as  they.  Wherever  they  went  converts  were 
multiplied  and  churches  reared  up,  in  defiance  of  all  oppo- 
sition, and  in  the  face  of  every  conceivable  discouragement. 
Strong  in  faith  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  these  few  men, 
in  a  few  short  years,  were  instrumental  in  making  greater 
conquests  over  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  and  winning  more 
souls  to  Christ,  than  all  the  missionaries  of  all  Christendom 
have  gained  in  half  a  century.  Whence,  then,  this  mighty 
power  ?  Without  venturing  into  this  interesting  field  of  in- 
quiry, we  may  offer  a  few  suggestions  in  relation  to  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  apostles'  preaching. 

1.  They  insisted  chiefly  on  a  few  cardinal  points,  com- 
prising the  great  truths  of  the  Christian  religion. 


394  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Christ,  and  him  crucified ;  repentance ;  faith  in  Christ 
and  the  remission  of  sins  ;  the  resurrection  j  and  the  general 
judgment; — these  are  the  great  points  to  which  all  their  ad- 
dresses are  directed.  The  simplicity  of  these  truths  gave  a 
like  simplicity  to  their  preaching.  Beaming  full  on  their 
own  minds,  and  occupying  their  whole  soul,  these  momen- 
tous truths  fell  from  their  lips  with  tremendous  power  upon 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  their  hearers.  No  power  of 
oratory  or  strength  of  argument  could  equal  the  awful  con- 
ception which  they  had  of  what  they  preached.  They  could, 
therefore,  only  speak  in  tha  fulness  of  their  hearts,  and  with 
earnestness  and  simplicity,  what  they  had  heard,  and  seen, 
and  felt.  The  word  thus  spoken  was  quick  and  powerful ; 
it  cut  to  the  heart ;  it  converted  the  soul. 

2.  Their  full  conviction  of  the  truths  which  they  preach- 
ed, gave  directness  and  pungency  to  their  addresses. 

They  preached  no  cunningly-devised  fables.  No  refined 
speculations  or  doubtful  disputations  employed  their  speech. 
But,  honest  in  their  sacred  cause,  and  much  impressed  with 
what  they  said,  and  anxious  only  to  fasten  the  same  impres- 
sion in  the  minds  of  their  hearers,  they  spoke  with  honest 
earnestness,  the  convictions  of  their  inmost  soul.  These 
strong  convictions  gave  them  the  noblest  eloquence,  the  elo- 
quence of  truth  and  of  nature.  Pietas  est  quod  disertum 
fadty  says  the  great  Roman  orator.  Piety  inspires  true  elo- 
quence. This  was  the  secret  of  their  eloquence.  They 
felt  the  high  importance  of  what  they  said ;  and,  springing 
from  the  heart,  their  exhortations  touched  the  hearts  of  those 
to  whom  they  spoke. 

3.  Their  preaching  was  wholly  scriptural;  based  on  the 
Scriptures,  and  restricted  to  the  single  purpose  of  making 
manifest  the  truths  of  God's  word. 

They  preached  not  themselves,  but  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
very  character  in  which  he  is  revealed  in  the  word  of  God, 
and  to  which  all  the  prophets  have  given  testimony.     Stand- 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  395 

ing  thus  in  the  counsel  of  the  Lord,  they  had  strong  ground 
of  defence,  and  holy  boldness  in  declaring  what  God  had 
said.  Their  preaching  was,  accordingly,  in  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit  and  of  power.  Armed  with  this  energy  di- 
vine, is  it  wonderful  that  the  word  spoken  had  this  quicken- 
ing power  ? 

4.  The  contradiction  and  persecution  which  they  con- 
tinually experienced,  gave  peculiar  earnestness  and  power  to 
their  ministrations. 

One  who,  like  Paul,  could  say,  "  None  of  these  things 
move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that 
I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy  and  the  ministry  which  I 
have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God,"  Acts  20 :  24 ; — such  a  man  only  waxes  bolder 
in  the  truth  by  all  the  conflicts  to  which  he  is  called ;  and 
summons  up  unwonted  powers  in  proclaiming  the  gospel 
which  he  preaches  at  the  peril  of  his  life.  Standing  in  jeop- 
ardy every  hour,  with  an  eye  fixed  on  eternity,  and  fearless  of 
every  foe,  is  it  surprising  that,  with  surpassing  energy  and 
power,  the  apostles  declared  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  to 
their  fellow-men  ? 

5.  They  preached  in  God's  name,  and  were  sustained  by 
the  undoubted  assurance  of  his  support. 

They  were  ambassadors  for  God ;  and,  supported  by  his 
authority,  had  great  boldness  in  declaring  the  messages  of  his 
grace.  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?  Strong 
in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his  might,  fearless  of  danger 
and  of  death,  they  gave  themselves  up  to  the  guidance  of  his 
Spirit,  speaking  as  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  them  utterance  ;  and 
like  their  Lord,  teaching  as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as 
the  Scribes. 

After  those  fragments  of  the  public  addresses  of  Christ  and 
the  apostles,  which  are  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  no  exam- 
ple of  a  similar  discourse  in  the  primitive  church  remains,  un- 


396  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

til  we  come  down  to  Origen,  in  the  third  century.  It  is,  how- 
ever, generally  admitted,  that  such  familiar  remarks,  in  con- 
nection with  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  continued  uni- 
formly to  constitute  a  part  of  the  social  and  public  worship  of 
the  primitive  Christians.  Such  instructions  were  expected 
jTarticularly  from  the  presbyters.  Acts  20  :  28.  1  Pet.  5:2; 
but  the  privilege  of  public  speaking  was  not  restricted  to  them. 
The  freedom  of  their  worship  permitted  any  one,  with  the 
exception  of  the  female  sex,  to  speak  in  their  assemblies. 
This  was  not  originally  the  exclusive  or  principal  duty  of 
the  presbyter. 1  Hilary's  testimony  to  this  effect  has  already 
been  given.^  Origen,  again,  was  invited  by  the  bishops  of 
Caesarea  and  the  vicinity  to  preach  in  public,  though  he  had 
never  been  ordained  as  a  presbyter.3 

Tertullian,  and  Justin  Martyr,  each  say  enough  to  show 
that  the  churches  of  Africa  and  Asia,  respectively,  still  con- 
ducted their  religious  worship  in  the  freedom  and  simplicity 
of  earlier  days.  "  We  meet  together  to  read  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, and,  when  circumstances  permit,  to  admonish  one  an- 
other. In  such  sacred  discourse  we  establish  our  faith,  we 
encourage  our  hope,  we  confirm  our  trust,  and  quicken  our 
obedience  to  the  word  by  a  renewed  application  of  its  truths."* 
The  whole  account  indicates  that  "  the  brethren"  sought,  by 
familiar  remarks,  and  mutual  exhortations,  to  enforce  a  prac- 
tical application  of  the  portion  of  the  Scriptures  which  had 
been  read  ;  and  to  encourage  one  another  in  their  religious 
hopes  and  duties. 

The  account  from  Justin,  which  has  already  been  given, 
corresponds  with  that  of  Tertullian,  with  the  single  excep- 
tion, thai  the  addresses  were  from  the  presiding  presbyter, 

1  Apost.  Kirch.  1.  c.  5.  Comp.  J.  H.  Bohmer,  Dissertat.  7.  De 
Dif.  inter  ordinem  ecclesiast.  etc.  §  39.  Eschenberg,  Versuch  Reli- 
gionsvortrJlge,  S.  85.     Rothe,  AnPdnge,  Vol.  1.  S.  155—160. 

2  Ch^p.  11.  p.  340. 

3  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  6.  c.  19.     Comp,  Lib.  5.  c.  10.  Lib.  6.  19. 
*  Tertullian,  Apol.  39. 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  397 

who  conducted  the  worship  of  the  assembly.  In  both  in- 
stances it  was  a  biblical  exercise,  designed  to  enforce  a  prac- 
tical application  of  the  truths  which  had  been  presented  in 
the  reading.  Not  a  single  text,  but  the  entire  passage  frona. 
the  Scriptures  which  had  been  read,  was  the  subject  of 
remark. 

The  taste  of  the  present  age  is  against  this  style  of  preach- 
ing; and,  by  common  consent  of  pastor  and  people,  it  has 
fallen  into  neglect.  But  it  has  certain  peculiar  advantages, 
which  deservedly  recommend  it  to  the  consideration  of  every 
minister  of  Christ. 

1.  It  is  recommended  by  apostolical  precedent. 

The  apostles  were  directed  by  wisdom  from  on  high,  to 
adopt,  or,  if  you  please,  to  continue  this  mode  of  address  in 
the  Christian  church.  They  were  content  simply  to  com- 
mend the  truth  to  their  hearers  as  God  had  revealed  it.  They 
strove,  as  the  only  and  ultimate  end  of  all  their  preaching,  to 
lay  open  the  heart  and  conscience  to  the  naked  truth  of  God. 
So  presented  and  applied,  that  truth  became  quick  and  pow- 
erful in  producing  the  end  of  all  preaching, — the  conviction 
and  conversion  of  men. 

2.  This  style  of  preaching  is  recommended  by  its  practical 
efficacy. 

Never,  elsewhere,  has  the  ministry  of  man  been  attended 
with  results  so  interesting  and  momentous  as  were  those  which 
followed  the  ministrations  of  the  holy  men  in  the  first  ages  of 
the  church,  who  knew  no  other  style  of  address  than  the  one 
we  are  considering,  and  who  simply  sought  to  give  a  plain  ex- 
position of  Scripture,  with  a  direct  and  pungent  application 
to  the  hearer. 

3.  Expository  preaching  gives  variety  to  the  ministrations 
of  the  pulpit. 

The  preacher,  by  continually  offering  the  hasty  suggestions 
of  his  own  mind,  is  in  danger  of  falling  into  a  regular  train 
of  thought  and  illustration ;  and  this,  by  frequent  recurrence, 
34 


398  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

may  give  sameness  to  his  ministrations,  and  render  them  as 
monotonous,  almost,  as  the  regular  tone  of  his  voice.  His  ser- 
mons thrown  oflfin  quick  succession,  from  a  mind  jaded  by  the 
ceaseless  recurrence  of  the  same  duties,  may  not  unfrequently 
exhibit  to  the  hearer  only  the  separate  lineaments  of  the  same 
features.  But  in  the  various  portions  of  the  sacred  volume  there 
is  a  variety,  a  richness,  and  fertility  which  no  uninspired  intel- 
lect ever  possessed ;  and  these,  if  successively  introduced,  may 
be  an  exhaustless  theme  of  discourse, — ever  new,  gratefully  di- 
versified, and  yet  alike  interesting  and  edifying  in  their  turn. 
All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable 
for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  right- 
eousness, that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works.  2  Tim.  3:  16.  Why  forever  set 
this  aside,  to  inflict  upon  our  auditory  what  is  too  often  the 
production  of  a  barren  mind,  or  a  wearied  intellect  and  a 
cold  heart. 

4.  Expository  addresses  afford  the  happiest  means  of  apply- 
ing religious  instruction  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men. 

In  a  consecutive  exposition  of  the  Scriptures  a  vast  variety 
of  topics  arises,  which,  discreetly  handled,  may  be  made  the 
means  of  enforcing  duties,  that  otherwise  would  never  be  em- 
braced within  the  teachings  of  the  ministry.  A  single  epis- 
tle of  Paul,  or  one  of  the  evangelists,  thus  expounded,  will  in 
a  few  months,  lead  the  preacher  to  remark  upon  many  sub- 
jects, which,  otherwise,  in  the  whole  course  of  his  ministry, 
might  never  find  a  place  in  his  public  discourses. 

5.  The  preparation  of  such  discourses  affords  the  preacher 
the  happiest  opportunity  of  enriching  his  own  mind  with  va- 
ried and  profitable  learning. 

Many  a  sermon  is  written  without  the  addition  of  a  single 
valuable  thought,  or  of  a  new  fact  to  the  acquisitions  of  the 
preacher.  But  how  varied  the  inquiries  which  arise  in  the 
attempt  to  elucidate  a  portion  of  Scripture.  Geography,  his- 
tory, philology,  philosophy,  theology  doctrinal  and  practical. 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  399 

all  are  put  in  requisition,  and  bring  their  varied  contributions 
to  elucidate  the  sacred  page,  and  to  enrich  his  own  mind. 
His  lexicons  are  recalled  from  the  neglected  shelf.  His 
Bible,  in  the  original  tongue,  is  resumed.  He  drinks  at  the 
sacred  fountain,  refreshing  alike  to  the  heart  and  the  mind, 
and  returns  to  his  people  with  fresh  acquisitions,  that  make 
him  both  a  wiser  man  and  a  better  clergyman. 

Finally,  this  mode  of  address,  above  all  others,  gives  the 
preacher  opportunity  to  bring  the  truth  of  God,  with  its  living, 
life-giving  power,  to  bear  upon  the  minds  of  his  people. 

That  which  the  preacher  speaks  is  now  no  longer  his  own. 
It  is  Jehovah's  awful  voice  which  speaks,  calling  upon  the 
hearer  to  listen  obediently  to  his  high  commands.  The  au- 
dience may  cavil  at  the  preacher,  or  sit  by  in  cold  indiffer- 
ence, but  they  have  a  solemn  interest  in  these  messages  of 
God  to  them.  Opposition  is  silenced,  and  the  ear  is  opened 
to  attend  while  Jehovah  speaks.  What  would  have  fallen 
powerless  from  the  preacher's  lips,  now  comes  with  divine 
authority  and  power  to  convince  and  convert  the  soul.  Mul- 
titudes, on  earth  and  in  heaven,  can  attest  the  mighty  pow- 
er of  divine  truth,  thus  plainly  set  forth  from  the  word  of  God, 
in  bringing  them  to  repentance.  Let  the  minister  observe 
the  moral  efficacy  of  his  various  ministrations,  and  he  will  find 
that  when  he  has  ceased  to  preach  himself,  when  he  has  with- 
drawn himself  most  from  the  notice  of  his  hearers,  and 
brought  forward  the  word  of  God,  to  unfold  to  them  its  tre- 
mendous truths,  then  has  he  seen  the  happiest  fruits  of  his  la- 
bors. Let  him  return,  after  a  long  absence,  to  the  former 
scene  of  his  labors,  and  he  will  find,  that  while  his  hearers 
have  forgotten  his  most  elaborate  sermons,  they  still  remem- 
ber his  faithful  expositions  of  the  word  of  God  in  the  evening- 
lecture. 


400  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

II.  Homilies  in  the  Greek  church. ^ 

From  the  third  century,  the  homilies  of  the  Greek  and  Ro- 
man fathers  are  so  different,  that  it  will  be  most  convenient  to 
consider  them  separately,  confining  our  attention  to  that  pe- 
riod which  extends  in  the  Greek  cburcli,  from  Origen,  A.  D. 
230,  to  Chrysostom,  A.  D.  400,  and  in  the  Roman,  from  Cyp- 
rian to  Augustine. 

With  Origen  a  new  style  of  public  address  began  in  the 
Greek  church,  which  had,  indeed,  some  advantages,  but  was 
attended  by  many  and  still  greater  faults.  The  following 
brief  outline  of  the  characteristics  of  the  style  of  preaching 
now  under  consideration,  and  of  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  its  adoption,  is  given  chiefly  from  Eschenburg,  who  is 
admitted  to  have  written  on  this  subject  with  more  candor 
and  discrimination  than  any  other  author. 

1.  Origen  introduced  that  allegorical  mode  of  interpreting 
the  Scriptures,  which,  while  it  affected  to  illustrate,  contin- 
ued, for  a  long  time,  to  darken  the  sacred  page.  Not  con- 
tent with  a  plain  and  natural  elucidation  of  the  historical 
sense  of  the  text,  it  sought  for  some  hidden  meaning,  darkly 
shadowed  forth  in  allegorical,  mystical  terms.  Great  as  was 
Origen  in  talent,  industry,  and  learning,  he  showed  still  great- 
er weakness  in  the  childish  fancies  in  which  he  indulged  as 
an  interpreter  of  Scripture.  The  great  respect  in  which  he 
was  held  gave  currency  to  his  mode  of  preaching,  so  that  he 
became  the  father  of  all  that  allegorical  nonsense,  which  for 
a  long  time  continued  to  dishonor  the  public  preaching  of  the 
ancient  church. 

2.  The  sermons  of  the  period  under  consideration,  were 

*  The  writers  of  the  period  now  under  consideration,  are  Origen, 
A.  D.  230,  Gregory  of  Neocaesarea,  A.  D.  240;  Athanasius,  A.  D. 
325  ;  Basil  the  Great,  A.  D.  370  ;  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  A.  D.  370  ;  Gre- 
gory Nazianzen,  379.  Among  others  of  less  note,  may  he  classed, 
Methodius,  A.  D.  290  ;  Macarius,  A.  D.  373  ;  Ephraem  the  Syrian, 
A.  D.  370  ;  Amphiloginus,  A.  D.  370—375  ;  andJSectarius,  A.  D.  381. 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  GREEK  CHURCH.  401 

occupied  with  profitless,  polemical  discussions  and  specula- 
tive theories. 

The  question  with  the  preacher  seems  too  often  to  have 
been,  not  what  will  produce  the  fruits  of  holy  living,  and  pre- 
pare the  hearer  for  eternity;  but  how  the  opinions  of  another 
can  best  be  controverted ;  worthless  dogmas,  it  may  be,  de- 
serving no  serious  consideration.  The  speculations  in  which 
the  preacher  indulged  were  advanced  without  due  regard  to 
their  practical  tendency.  Whether  those  who  adopted  them 
would  be  made  wiser  and  better,  was  a  question  not  often 
asked.  Doctrinal  points,  rather  than  moral  truths,  were 
taught  from  the  Scriptures ;  and  often  were  sentiments  con- 
demned which  were  truly  just,  while  others  were  extolled 
which  were  wholly  worthless. 

3.  The  preachers  of  this  period  claimed  most  undeserved 
respect  for  their  own  authority. 

Flattered  by  the  great  consideration  in  which  they  were 
held,  and  the  confidence  in  which  the  people  waited  on  them 
for  instruction,  they  converted  the  pulpit  into  a  stage  for  the 
exhibition  of  their  own  pertinacity,  ignorance  and  folly. 
They  manifested  an  angry  impatience  at  the  errors  of  others, 
persecuted  them  for  following  their  own  convictions,  and  con- 
demned them  for  refusing  assent  to  arbitrary  forms,  which 
they  themselves  prescribed  as  conditions  of  salvation.  With 
all  their  self-conceit,  they  manifested  a  time-serving  spirit. 
As  the  opinions  of  the  court  and  of  the  principal  men  in  the 
nation  favored  one  religious  party  or  another,  so  were  they 
more  or  less  reserved  in  exposing  the  errors  of  the  same.  The 
polemic  discourses  from  the  pulpit  changed  with  every  change 
of  administration  ;  and  what  a  short  time  before  had  been  ad- 
vanced as  wholesome  truth,  under  a  change  of  circumstances 
came  to  be  denounced  as  damnable  heresy. 

4.  The  sermons  of  this  period  were  as  faulty  in  style,  as 
they  were  exceptionable  in  the  other  characteristics  which 
have  been  mentioned. 

34* 


402  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Not  only  was  the  simplicity  which  characterized  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ  and  of  the  apostles,  in  a  great  measure  lost,  in 
absurd  and  puerile  expositions  of  Scripture,  and  corrupted 
by  the  substitution  of  vain  speculations,  derived  especially 
from  the  Platonic  philosophy,  but  the  style  of  the  pulpit  was 
in  other  respects  vitiated  and  corrupt.  Philosophical  terms 
and  rhetorical  flourishes,  forms  of  expression  extravagant  and 
far-fetched,  biblical  expressions  unintelligible  to  the  people, 
unmeaning  comparisons,  absurd  antitheses,  spiritless  interro- 
gations, senseless  exclamations  and  bombast,  disfigure  the  ser- 
mons of  the  period  now  under  consideration. 

Causes  which  contributed  to  form  the  style  above  de- 
scribed. 

1.  The  prevalence  of  pagan  philosophy. 

The  preacher  was  compelled  to  acquaint  himself  with  the 
philosophical  speculations  of  the  day,  to  expose  their  subtle- 
ties, and  he  unconsciously  fell  into  a  similar  mode  of  phi- 
losophizing. 

2.  The  conversion  of  many  philosophers  to  Christianity, 
especially  at  the  beginning  of  this  period,  had  an  influence  in 
corrupting  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian  system,  both  in  doc- 
trine and  in  discourse. 

They  sought  to  incorporate  their  philosophical  principles 
with  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  to  introduce  their  rhe- 
toric and  sophistries  into  the  discourses  of  the  clergy.  Every 
discussion  gave  occasion  for  the  introduction  of  various  forms 
of  expression  unknown  in  Scripture.  But  to  give  greater  au- 
thority to  such  discussions,  certain  phrases  were  selected  from 
the  Scriptures,  to  which  a  meaning  was  attached  similar  to 
the  philosophical  terms  in  use ;  and  out  of  this  strange  com- 
bination, a  new  dialect  was  formed  for  the  pulpit.  In  this 
way  the  few  and  simple  doctrines  of  Christianity  received 
from  an  impure  philosophy  many  additions  from  time  to  time; 
and  by  continual  controversy  were  darkened  the  more,  and 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  GREEK  CHURCH.  403 

gradually  almost  excluded  from  the  instructions  of  the  pul- 
pit. 

3.  The  evil  in  question  was  aggravated  by  the  want  of 
suitable  preparation  for  the  ministry. 

Some  betook  themselves  to  the  schools  of  the  Platonic 
philosophy,  and  became  practised  in  the  arts  of  the  orators 
and  sophists  of  the  day.  Others  sought,  in  deserts  and  in 
cloisters,  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  sacred  office.  Here 
they  brooded  over  what  they  had  previously  read  and  heard. 
Here,  removed  from  intercourse  with  men,  they  only  learned 
to  be  visionary,  perverse,  self-willed  and  immoral.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  their  instructions  abounded  with  distorted, 
false  views  of  virtue  and  doctrine,  and  of  the  means  of  moral 
improvement. 

4.  Ignorance  of  the  original  languages  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  of  just  principles  of  interpretation,  contributed  to  the  same 
result. 

Philo,  Plato,  and  others,  were  read,  instead  of  the  evange- 
lists, and  Paul,  and  the  other  apostles.  The  Hebrew  was 
little  cultivated,  and  the  true  principles  of  interpretation  were 
unknown. 

5.  A  blind  self-conceit  had  much  influence  in  setting  aside 
the  great  truths  and  duties  of  religion. 

Forgetful  of  the  religious  edification  of  his  people,  the 
preacher  was  occupied  with  speculations  upon  trifling  and  un- 
meaning things.  These  accordingly  were  the  topics  of  his 
public  discourses,  whenever  he  was  not  employed  in  the  en- 
deavor to  expose  some  heretical  dogma. 

6.  The  religious  controversy  of  the  day  gave  an  unprofitable 
direction  to  the  instructions  of  the  pulpit 

The  preacher  had  constantly  the  attitude  of  a  polemic, 
watching  with  a  vigilant  eye  any  defection  from  the  truth, 
and  hastening  to  oppose  the  outbreak  of  some  destructive 
heresy. 

7.  The  increasing  influence  of  the  bishop. 


404  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

This  was  itself  a  new  source  of  polemical  discussion.  The 
bishops  at  the  head  of  their  churches,  and,  in  the  larger  ci- 
ties, already  having  great  authority  over  the  presbyters  and 
deacons,  would  not  receive  from  these  the  least  contradiction. 
If  any  reflection  was  cast  upon  the  dignity  of  the  bishop,  whe- 
ther justly  or  unjustly,  that  was  enough.  Not  content  mere- 
ly to  be  honored,  the  bishops  would  be  implicitly  obeyed. 
To  this  demand  some  one  perhaps  ventured  to  dissent.  If 
he  had  the  courage  or  inconsideration  to  advance  an  opposite 
opinion  concerning  a  doctrine  of  Scripture,  or  a  sentiment 
avowed  in  a  public  address,  he  was,  if  possible,  ejected  from 
office  by  the  bishop  ;  and  for  what  he  had  said  or  written  was 
condemned  as  a  heretic. 

8.  The  increasing  formalities  of  public  worship  had  no 
small  influence  in  diverting  the  mind  from  the  true  object  of 
public  religious  instruction. 

These  forms,  of  which  Christianity  in  its  original  simplici- 
ty had  so  few,  were  generally  multiplied ;  great  attention  was 
paid  to  the  adorning  of  the  churches;  festivals  became  nume- 
rous ;  the  effect  of  all  which  was  to  turn  off  the  mind  from  the 
essential  truths  and  duties  of  religion,  and  fasten  attention 
upon  other  things,  which  have  not  the  least  influence  in  pro- 
moting the  spiritual  improvement  of  man.  The  preacher 
sought  to  adapt  his  addresses  to  these  forms  and  festivals,^ 

^  "  Of  this  depraved  state  of  the  public  mind,  we  have  a  striking 
example  from  Socrates.  In  relating  the  endless  discords  of  the  church- 
es in  regard  to  their  rites  and  festivals,  he  refers  to  the  decision  of  the 
apostolical  council,  Acts  15:  23 — 30,  to  show  that  the  apostles  gave  no 
instructions  touching  these  forms,  but  insisted  only  on  moral  duties, 
and  proceeds  to  say, '  some,  however,  regardless  of  these  practical  in- 
junctions, treat  with  indifference,  every  species  of  licentiousness,  but 
contend  as  if  for  their  lives  for  the  days  v'hen  a  festival  should  be  held.'  " 
— Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  5.  c.  22.  The  same  degeneracy  characterized  the 
church  before  the  Reformation.  "  In  proportion  as  a  higher  value 
was  attached  to  outward  rites,  the  sanctification  of  the  heart,  had  be- 
come less  and  less  an  object  of  concern  ;  dead  ordinances  had  every- 
where usurped  the  place  of  a  Christian  life;  and,  by  a  revolting  yet 
natural  alliance,  the  most  scandalous  debauchery  had  been  combined 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  LATIN  CHURCH.  405 

and  often  fell  into  extravagances  and  fanaticism.  Monks,  as- 
cetics and  recluses  were  extolled  as  saints,  and  commended 
as  examples  of  piety. 

Finally,  the  effeminacy,  the  tendency  to  gloom  and  melan- 
choly, and  the  love  of  the  marvellous  which  have  ever  cha- 
racterized the  Eastern  nations,  became  to  some  extent  infused 
into  the  religious  discourses  of  their  preachers. 

III.  Homilies  in  the  Latin  church. 

The  writers  of  this  same  period,  from  A.  D.  250  to  400,  to 
whom  reference  is  had  in  the  following  remarks,  are  Cyprian, 
Zeno  and  Ambrose.  The  characteristic  distinctions  be- 
tween these  and  the  Greek  fathers  whose  public  discourses 
have  been  considered,  are  given  by  our  author  in  the  follow- 
ing summary. 

1.  The  Latins  were  inferior  to  the  Greeks,  in  their  exege- 
sis of  the  Scriptures.  They  accumulated  a  multitude  of  pas- 
sages, without  just  discrimination  or  due  regard  to  their  ap- 
plication to  the  people. 

2.  They  interested  themselves  less  with  speculative  and 
polemic  theology  than  the  Greeks. 

3.  They  insisted  upon  moral  duties  more  than  the  Greeks, 
but  were  equally  unfortunate  in  their  mode  of  treating  these 
topics,  by  reason  of  the  undue  importance  which  they  attached 
to  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  religion ;  hence  their  reverence 
for  saints  and  relics,  their  vigils,  fasts,  penances  and  austeri- 
ties of  every  kind. 

4.  In  method  and  style  the  homilies  of  the  Latin  fathers 
are  greatly  inferior  to  those  of  the  Greeks. 

with  the  most  superstitious  devotion.  Instances  are  on  record  of  theft 
committed  at  the  altar,  seduction  practised  in  the  confessional,  poison 
mingled  with  the  Eucharist,  adultery  perpetrated  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross." — D'Aubigni's  Ref.  Vol.  JII  p.  348.  This  is  one  of  the  evils 
of  Prelacy.  It  encourages  a  debasing  superstition  which,  by  corrupt- 
ing the  doctrines  of  religion,  vitiates  the  morals  of  the  people. 


4106  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

Causes  productive  of  these  characteristics. 

1.  The  lack  of  suitable  means  of  education. 

They  neither  had  schools  of  theology,  like  the  Greeks,  nor 
were  they  as  familiar  with  the  literature  and  oratory  of  their 
own  people.  Ambrose  was  promoted  to  the  office  of  bishop, 
with  scarcely  any  preparation  for  its  duties. 

2.  Ignorance  of  the  original  languages  of  the  Bible. 

Of  the  Hebrew  they  knew  nothing  ;  of  the  original  of  the 
New  Testament  they  knew  little ;  and  still  less  of  all  that  is 
essential  to  its  right  interpretation.  When  they  resorted  to 
the  Scriptures,  it  was  too  frequently  to  oppose  heresy  by  an 
indiscriminate  accumulation  of  texts.  When  they  attempted 
to  explain,  it  was  by  perpetual  allegories. 

3.  The  want  of  suitable  examples,  and  a  just  standard  of 
public  speaking. 

Basil,  Ephraem  the  Syrian,  and  the  two  Gregories,  were 
contemporaries,  and  were  mutual  helps  and  incentives  to  one 
another.  Others  looked  to  them  as  patterns  for  public  preach- 
ing. But  such  advantages  were  unknown  in  the  Latin  church. 
The  earlier  classic  authors  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  discard- 
ed, from  bigotry ;  or,  through  ignorance,  so  much  neglected, 
that  their  influence  was  little  felt. 

4.  The  unsettled  state  of  the  Western  churches  should  be 
mentioned  in  this  connection. 

Persecuted  and  in  exile  at  one  time,  at  another  engaged  in 
fierce  and  bloody  contests  among  themselves,'''  the  preachers 
of  the  day  had  little  opportunity  to  prepare  for  their  appropri- 
ate duties.  Literature  was  neglected.  Under  Constantine, 
Rome  herself  ceased  to  be  the  seat  of  the  fine  arts,  and  bar- 
barism began  its  disastrous  encroachments  upon  the  provinces 
of  the  Western  church. 

5.  The  increasing  importance  of  the  bishop's  office. 
The  pride  of  the  bishops,  and  their  neglect  of  their  duty 

'  The  contests  for  the  election  of  bishops  often  ran  so  high  as  to  end 
in  bloodshed  and  murder,  of  which  an  example  is  given  in  Walch's 
History  of  the  Popes,  p.  87.    Ammianus  Marcellinus,  Lib.  27.  c.  3. 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  LATIN  CHURCH.  4^9^ 

as  preachers,  kept  pace  with  their  advancement  in  authority. 
As  in  the  Greek  church,  so  also  in  the  Latin,  this  sense  of 
their  own  importance  gave  a  polemic  character  to  their  preach- 
ing. But  in  the  latter  church  they  were  not  merely  careful 
to  assert  and  defend  their  own  dignity  ;  many  also  became 
indolent  and  pleasure-loving,  as  their  incomes  increased ;  or 
they  manifested  a  spirit  equally  foreign  from  that  of  a  public 
religious  teacher.  They  sought,  in  every  possible  way,  to 
promote  their  own  power  and  self-aggrandizement.  They 
created  new  and  needless  offices,  better  suited  to  assist  them  in 
commanding,  in  governing,  and  in  maintaining  their  dignity, 
than  to  promote  the  instruction  and  edification  of -the  people. 
By  such  means  they  sought  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  people, 
and  to  forestall  the  popular  sentiment,  which  otherwise  might 
be  too  easily  formed  against  their  pride  and  neglect  of  duty 
as  religious  teachers. 

Others  sought,  by  the  appearance  of  great  sanctity,  by  celi- 
bacy and  seclusion,  by  fasting  and  the  like,  to  maintain  and 
to  augment  their  importance.  In  the  practice  of  these  aus- 
terities, they  wasted  so  much  time  that  little  remained  to  be 
employed  in  preparation  for  public  speaking. 

6.  The  increase  of  the  ceremonies  and  forms  of  public 
worship. 

The  effect  of  all  these  was,  to  give  importance  to  the  bish- 
op ;  and,  in  his  zeal  for  the  introduction  and  general  adoption 
of  them,  the  essential  points  of  the  Christian  religion  were 
forgotten.  Need  we  relate  with  what  zeal  Victor,  the  Roman 
bishop,  engaged  in  the  controversies  respecting  Easter  and 
the  ceremonies  connected  with  it?  What  complicated  rites 
were  involved  with  the  simple  ordinance  of  baptism,  and  the 
abuses  with  which  they  were  connected  ;  what  importance, 
what  sanctity,  was  ascribed  to  their  fasts,  and  what  controver- 
sies arose  between  the  Latin  and  the  Greek  church  from  the  re- 
luctance of  the  letter  to  adopt  the  rites  of  the  former  1  What  in- 


408  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

credible  effects  were  ascribed  to  the  sign  of  the  cross  ?8  Where 
indeed  would  the  enumeration  end,  if  we  should  attempt  a  spe- 
cification of  all  the  ceremonies,  with  their  various  abuses, 
which  were  introduced  during  the  period  under  consideration? 
Thus  ancient  Episcopacy  touched  with  its  withering  blight 
the  ministrations  of  the  pulpit,  both  in  the  churches  of  the 
East  and  of  the  West.9 

To  the  foregoing  view  we  subjoin   one  or  two  remarks. 

1.  Episcopacy  is  an  incumbrance  to  the  faithful  minister 
in  the  discharge  of  his  appropriate  duties. 

The  reader  has  noticed  what  obstacles  these  ancient  pre- 
latists  of  the  church  encountered  in  their  ministry.  So  much 
attention  was  requisite  to  guard  the  Episcopal  prerogatives, 
such  vigilance  to  root  out  the  heresies  that  were  perpetually 
shooting  up  in  rank  luxuriance  within  the  church  ;  so  much 
time  was  wasted  in  useless  discussions  about  rites  and  forms, 
festivals  and  fasts,  and  all  the  ceremonials  of  their  religion,  as 
sadly  to  divert  their  attention  from  their  appropriate  work  of 
winning  souls  to  Christ. 

All  this  is  only  the  natural  result  of  an  exclusive  and  for- 
mal religion.  Such  a  religion  addresses  itself  powerfully  to 
strong,  original  principles  of  our  nature.  And  the  results 
are  as  distinctly  manifest  in  modern,  as  they  were  in  ancient 
prelacy.  Undue  importance  is  given  to  the  externals  of  reli- 
gion, which  have  little  or  no  place  in  the  ministrations  of  the 
pulpit.  In  the  perpetual  lauding  of  the  church,  her  rites,  and 
her  liturgy;  in  the  conscious  reliance  upon  her  ordinances; 
in  the  sanctimonious  exclusiveness,  which  boasts  of  apostoli- 
cal succession  and  divine  right;  in  the  sleepless  vigilance  to 
guard  against  any  imaginable  departure  from  the  rubric, — in 

^  Cyprian,  Lib.  2.  Testimon.  adv.  Indaeos.  c.  21,  22.  Lactant.  In- 
stit.  Lib.  4.  c.  27,28.  Vol.  L  p.  594,  ed  Boemann. 

'  Many  other  particulars  in  relation  to  the  homilies  of  the  ancient 
church  are  given  in  the  author's  Christian  Antiquities,  c.  12.  pp.  237 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  40^ 

all  these  we  see  the  influences  still  at  work,  which  wrought 
such  mischief  in  the  ministry  of  ancient  prelacy  ;  still,  as  then^ 
embarrassing  the  faithful  preaching  of  Christ  and  him  cruci* 
fied..  The  charges  of  the  bishops  and  the  sermons  of  the* 
clergy,  show  distinctly  th^  strong  bias  which  the  mind  re- 
ceives from  a  religion  surcharged  with  ceremonials,  and 
boasting  its  exclusive  prerogatives.  These  unconsciously  as~ 
sume  undue  importance  in  the  preacher's  mind.  His  Bible 
furnishes  him  with  a  text;  but  too  frequently  his  rubric  sug- 
gests his  subject.io  Such  is  the  natural  course  of  thehumatt 
mind.  It  fastens  strongly  upon  what  is  outward  and  sensual;: 
forgetful  of  that  which  is  inward  and  spiritual.  "  The  Divine 
Founder  of  Christianity,  as  if  in  wise  jealousy  of  a  tendency 
which  may  be  so  easily  abused,  confined  the  ceremonials  ot 
his  religion  within  the  strictest  limits." 

According  to  the  canons  of  the  church,  which  were  adopt- 
ed in  1693,  "  whosoever  shall  affirm  that  the  rites  and  cere- 
monies of  that  church  are  *  wicked,  antichristian,  or  supersti- 
tious,' shall  be  excommunicated,  ipso  facto,  and  not  restored 

'°  Even  the  Christian  Observer,  for  May,  1804,  has  an  article  from 
a  churchman,  gravely  inquiring,  not  after  the  best  means  for  the  con- 
version of  men,  and  their  continuance  in  the  Christian  faith,  but  for 
the  "  most  effectual  means  which  a  faithful  clergyman  can  take  during 
his  life,  in  order  to  prevent  his  flock  from  becoming  Dissenters  after  his 
death  /"  As  though  the  highest  ends  of  a  faithful  Episcopal  minister 
were,  not  to  save  the  souls  of  his  people,  but  to  save  them  from  be- 
coming Dissenters.  In  the  foregoing  remarks,  allusion  has  hardly- 
been  made  to  the  Puseyite  party  in  that  church  ;  and  yet  a  late  writer 
claims  on  that-side,  nine  of  the  thirteen  charges  which  have  been  de- 
livered by  English  bishops,  within  a  short  time  past ;  and  even  of  the 
remaining  four,  only  one  was  decidedly  against  the  party.  One  of 
this  class,  inst^-ad  of  bong  absorbed  in  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, is  intent,  with  almost  a  mystic  monomania,  upon  the  arrangement 
of  the  merest  trifles, — clerical  costume  and  pulpit  etiquette,  chaplets, 
crosses,  crucifixes,  wax  candles,  flowers,  "  red,"  "  white,"  and  "  inter- 
mingled." 

"  Nescio  quid  meditans  nugarum  et  totus  in  illis." 

35 


$§§  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

until  he  repent,  and  publicly  revoke  his  wicked  errors."  Can. 
6.  The  seventy-fourth  canon  directs  that  archbishops  and 
bishops  shall  wear  the  accustomed  apparel  of  their  degrees^ 
and  that  the  subordinate  orders  shall  •*  wear  gowns  with  stand- 
ing sleeves,  straight  at  the  hands ;  or  wide  sleeves,  with  hoods 
or  tippets,  of  silk  or  sarcanet,  and  square  caps."  They  are 
not  to  wear  *'  wrought  night-caps,  but  only  plain  night-caps 
of  black  silk,  satin,  or  velvet."  At  home  they  may  wear 
"  any  comely  or  scholar-like  apparel,  provided  it  be  not  cut 
orpinkt;  and  that  in  public  they  go  not  in  their  doublet  and 
hose,  without  coats  or  cassocks ;  and  that  they  wear  not  any 
light-colored  stockings."  All  this  is  gravely  entered  in  the 
canons  of  the  church,  and  "  ratified  by  letters-patent  from  the 
king,  under  the  great  seal  of  England,  after  having  been  dili- 
gently read  with  great  contentment  and  comfort." 

2.  As  a  conservative  principle,  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the 
church,  Episcopacy  is  entirely  inadequate. 

If  the  unity  of  the  church  consist  in  a  name  merely,  and  in 
forms, — in  the  use  of  a  prayer-book  and  surplice, — then  may 
Episcopacy  be  said  to  preserve  this  unity  ;  but  in  what  else 
have  they  of  this  communion  ever  been  united  ?  how  else 
have  they  kept  the  unity  of  the  faith  ?  In  the  ancient  church 
what  was  the  success  of  the  Episcopal  expedient  to  preserve 
the  unity  of  the  church  ?  Let  Milton  reply.  "  Heresy  begat 
heresy  with  a  certain  monstrous  haste  of  pregnancy  in  her 
birth,  at  once  born  and  bringing  forth.  Contentions,  before 
brotherly,  were  now  hostile.  Men  went  to  choose  their  bish- 
op, as  they  went  to  a  pitched  field,  and  the  day  of  his  election 
was  like  the  sacking  of  a  city,  sometimes  ending  in  the  blood 
of  thousands;  ..  so  that,  instead  of  finding  prelacy  an  im- 
peacher  of  schism  and  faction,  the  more  I  search,  the  more  I 
grow  into  all  persuasion  to  think  rather,  that  faction  and  she, 
as  with  a  spousal  ring,  are  wedded  together,  never  to  be  di- 
vorced." ii 

"  Prose  Works,  Vol.  1.  pp.  121,  122. 


HOMILIES  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH.  411 

What  idea  does  the  profession  of  Episcopacy  at  present 
give  of  one's  religious  faith  ?  Is  he  Calvinistic,  Arniinian, 
or  Unitarian;  high-church  or  low-church  ;  Puseyitish,  semi- 
popish,  or  what  ?  **  The  religion  of  the  Church  of  England," 
says  Macaulay,  **  is  so  far  from  exhibiting  that  unity  of  doc- 
trine which  Mr.  Gladstone  represents  as  her  distinguishing 
glory,  that  it  is,  in  fact,  a  bundle  of  religious  systems  without 
number.  It  comprises  the  religious  system  of  Bishop  Tom- 
line,  and  the  religious  system  of  John  Newton,  and  all  the 
religious  systems  that  lie  between  them.  It  comprises  the 
religious  system  of  Mr.  Newman,  and  the  religious  system 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  all  the  religious  systems 
that  lie  between.  All  these  different  opinions  are  held, 
avowed,  preached,  printed,  within  the  pale  of  the  church,  by 
men  of  unquestioned  integrity  and  understanding."^^ 

As  an  expedient,  therefore,  to  preserve  the  unity  of  th^ 
church,  Episcopacy  must  be  pronounced  an  entire  failure. 
And  yet  they  of  this  denomination  present  the  extraodinary 
spectacle,  of  the  most  discordant  sect  in  all  Christendom 
boasting  the  conservative  powers  of  their  religion  as  its  dis- 
tinguishing glory,  and  urging  a  return  to  this,  their  "  one 
body  in  Christ,"  as  the  only  means  of  preserving  the  unity  of 
the  church !" 

»2  Review  of  Gladstone's  Church  and  State.  Miscel.  Vol.  3.  p.  3U6, 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  BENEDICTION. 

I.  Origin  and  import  of  the  rite. 

It  seems  to  have  been  from  remote  antiquity,  a  common 
belief,  that  either  a  blessing  or  a  curse,  when  pronounced 
with  solemnity,  is  peculiarly  efficacious  upon  those  who  are 
the  objects  of  it.i  So  common  was  this  belief,  that  it  gave 
rise  to  the  proverb,  *'  The  blessing  and  the  curse  fail  not  of 
their  fulfilment."  The  consequences  were  momentous,  ac- 
cording to  the  character  of  the  person  from  whom  the  pro- 
phetic sentiment  proceeded.  The  blessing  of  the  aged  patri- 
arch, of  the  prophet,  the  priest,  and  the  king,  was  sought  with 
peculiar  interest,  and  their  execration  deprecated  wilh  corre- 
sponding anxiety.  Of  the  king's  curse  we  have  an  instance, 
in  1  Sam.  14:  24.  Saul  adjured  the  people  and  said,  Cursed 
be  the  man  that  eateth  any  food  until  the  evening,  that  I  may 
be  avenged  on  mine  enemies.  Comp.  Josh.  6:  26,  with  1 
Kings  16:  34.  The  blessing  and  the  curse  of  Noah  upon  his 
Bons,  Gen.  9:  25 — ^28,  and  of  Moses  upon  the  children  of  Is- 
rael, Deut.  xxviii,  xxxiii,  are  familiar  illustrationsof  the  same 
sentiment,  as  is  also  the  history  of  Balaam,  whose  curse  upon 
Israel  Balak  sought  with  so  much  solicitude,  Num.  xxii,  xxiii, 
xxiv.  The  blessing  of  the  patriarchs  Isaac  and  Jacob,  re- 
spectively, was  sought  with  peculiar  anxiety,  as  conveying  to 
their  posterity  the  favor  of  God  and  the  snnles  of  his  provi- 

^  Dira  detestatio  nulla  expialur  victima. — Hor.  Epod.  5,  90.  Hence 
also  the  expression,  Thyestcae  preces,  in  the  same  ode.  Comp,  Iliad. 
9,  455. 


THE  BENEDICTION.  413 

dence.  Gen.  xxvii,  and  xlviii,  xHx.  Comp.  Deut.  xxxiii. 
The  son  of  Sirach  expresses  a  similar  sentiment,  3: 9.  "  The 
blessing  of  the  father  establisheth  the  houses  of  children  ;  but 
the  curse  of  the  mother  rooteth  out  foundations." 

With  the  question  relative  to  the  prophetic  character  of 
these  patriarchal  benedictions  we  are  not  now  concerned.  It 
is  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  that  the  benediction  of 
patriarchs,  of  parents,  and  of  all  those  who  were  venerable 
for  their  age,  or  for  their  religious  or  official  character,  was 
regarded  as  peculiarly  efficacious  in  propitiating  the  favor  of 
God  towards  those  upon  whom  the  blessing  was  pronounced. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  the  Aaronitic  priesthood  were  di- 
vinely constituted  the  mediators  between  God  and  his  people 
Israel.  They  were  the  intercessors  for  his  people  before  his 
altar ;  and  stood  in  their  official  character,  as  daysmen  be- 
tween the  children  of  Israel  and  Jehovah  their  God.  In  this 
official  capacity,  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  directed  to  bless 
the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  "  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep 
thee.  The  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee  and  be  gra- 
cious unto  thee.  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee 
and  give  thee  peace."  Thus  were  they  to  put  the  name  of 
God  upon  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the  promise  of  God  was 
that  he  would  bless  them.  Num.  6:  24 — 27.  In  conformity 
with  this  commission  to  the  house  of  Aaron,  it  was  a  univer- 
sal custom  in  the  worship  of  the  Jews,  both  in  the  temple  and 
in  their  synagogues,  for  the  people  to  receive  the  blessing  on- 
ly at  the  mouth  of  the  priests,  the  sons  of  Aaron.  If  none  of 
these  priests  were  present,  another  was  accustomed  to  invoke 
the  blessing  of  God,  supplicating  in  the  prayer  the  triple  bless- 
ings of  the  benediction,  that  the  assembly  might  not  retire 
unblessed ;  but  this  was  carefully  distinguished  from  the  sacer- 
dotal benediction.2 

This  view  of  the  subject  may  perhaps  aid  us  in  forming  a 
just  idea  of  the  nature  and  import  of  the  sacerdotal  benedio 

'  Vitringa,  De  Synagoga,  Lib.  3,  part  2.  c.  20. 
35* 


414  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

tion.  The  term  hemidiction  is  used  to  express  both  the  act 
of  blessing,  and  that  of  consecrating, — two  distinct  religious 
rites.  The  sacerdotal  benediction,  according  to  the  views 
above  expressed,  seems  to  be  a  brief  prayer,  offered  with  pc- 
rculiar  solemnity  unto  God,  for  his  blessing  upon  the  people, 
by  one  who  has  been  duly  set  apart  to  the  service  of  the  minis'- 
try,  as  an  intercessor  with  God  in  their  behalf^ 

Both  this  and  the  other  forms  of  benediction,  in  the  acts  of 
consecration  and  dedication,  are  exclusively  the  acts  of  the 
clergy.  Ordy  the  higher  grades  of  the  clergy  were  permitted 
in  the  ancient  church,  to  enjoy  this  prerogative.  The  coun- 
cil of  Ancyra  and  others  restricted  it  to  bishops  and  presby- 
ters.^ And  in  all  Christian  churches  it  is  still  a  general  rule 
that  none  but  a  clergyman  is  entitled  to  pronounce  the  bene- 
diction. In  the  Lutheran  church  none  but  an  ordained  cler- 
gyman is  duly  authorized  to  perform  this  rite.  The  licen- 
tiate accordingly  includes  himself  in  the  petition,  saying,  not 
as  the  ordained  minister,  The  Lord  bless  you,  etc.,  but  The 
Lord  bless  us.  And  if  a  layman  is  officiating,  he  includes 
the  form  of  benediction  in  his  prayer,  varying  yet  again  the 
emphasis,  and  saying.  The  Lord  bless  us,  etc.  Their  doc- 
trine is,  that  the  minister  stands  in  the  place  of  Christ,  to 
bless  the  people  in  his  name;  and  that  in  the  benediction 
there  is  an  actual  conferring  of  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the 
people — of  which,  however,  none  are  partakers  but  those  who 
receive  it  in  faith.  Such,  also,  is  the  Roman  Catholic  doc- 
trine of  the  priesthood,  derived  from  the  prelacy  of  the  ancient 
church.  Immediately  upon  the  rise  of  Episcopacy,  the  cler- 
gy began  to  claim  kindred  with  the  Jewish  priesthood.  The 
bishop  became  the  representative  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ; 
and  the  priesthood,  like  that  of  the  Jews,  the  mediators  be- 

'  According  to  Ambrose,  the  benediction  is — sancUficationibus  et 
gratiarum  vot'vacollatio — votioa ;  quia  benedicens  vovet  et  optat. — J. 
Gretseri,  Vol.  V,  178,  in  Lib.  1.  De  Benedictionibus. 

*  Cone.  Nic.  c.  18.  Ancyr.  c.  2.  Arelat.  1.  c.  15.  Constit.  Apost. 
Lib.  8.  c.  28. 


THE  BENEDICTION.  415 

tween  God  and  man.  This  delusive  dogma  changed  the  cha- 
racter of  the  Christian  ministry.  They  now  became  the 
priests  of  a  vicarious  religion,  ministering  before  the  Lord, 
Jor  the  piople,  as  the  medium  of  communicating  his  blessing 
to  them.  This  perversion  of  the  Christian  idea  of  the  minis- 
try, which  in  an  evil  hour  was  put  forth  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
church,  opened  the  way  for  infinite  superstitions,  and  did 
more  harm  to  spiritual  Christianity  than  any  single  delusion 
that  ever  afflicted  the  church  of  Christ.  It  is  remarkable, 
however,  that  neither  the  New  Testament  nor  primitive  Chris- 
tianity gives  us  any  intimation  of  a  vicarious  priesthood. 

With  reference  to  the  intercessory  office  of  the  Jewish 
priesthood,  Christ  our  mediator  and  intercessor  with  the  Fa- 
ther is,  indeed,  styled  our  great  High  Priest.  Heb.  4:  14. 
Comp.  also,  2:  17.  3:  1.  5:  10.  His  benediction  he  pro- 
nounced upon  the  little  children,  when  he  took  them  in  his 
arms  and  blessed  them.  Mark  10:  16.  In  his  separation 
from  his  disciples  at  Bethany,  when  he  was  about  to  return 
unto  his  Father  in  heaven,  he  ended  his  instructions  to  them 
by  pronouncing  upon  them  his  final  benediction.  "  He  lifted 
up  his  hands  and  blessed  them ;  and  it  came  to  pass,  that 
jvhile  he  blessed  them,  he  was  parted  from  them  and  carried 
up  into  heaven."  Luke  24:  50,  51.  These  acts,  however, 
have  no  reference  to  the  sacerdotal  benedictions  of  the  Jew- 
ish priesthood.  They  are  only  the  expressions  of  the  benev- 
olent spirit  of  our  Lord  ;  the  manifestations  of  that  love  where- 
with he  loved  his  own  to  the  end. 

The  apostles,  also,  frequently  begin  and  end  their  epistles 
with  an  invocation  of  the  blessing  of  God  upon  those  to  whom 
they  write;  sometimes  in  a  single  sentence,  and  sometimes 
with  a  triple  form  of  expression,  analogous  to  the  Aaronitic 
benediction.  But  these,  again,  appear  to  be  only  general 
and  customary  expressions  of  the  benevolent  desires  of  the 
writer  towards  those  whom  he  addresses.  They  are  a  brief 
prayer  to  the  Author  of  all  good  for  his  blessing  upon  the  per- 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

eons  addressed.  Whatever  be  the  form  of  the  salutation,  it 
is  only  expressive  of  the  love  and  benevolence,  which  swelled 
the  hearts  of  the  apostles  towards  the  beloved  brethren  to 
whom  they  wrote. 

But  in  all  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  we  have  no 
indication  of  the  use  of  the  sacerdotal  benediction ^  in  the  Jew- 
ish and  prelatical  sense  of  the  term,  in  the  religious  worship 
of  the  apostolical  churches.  It  appears,  indeed,  not  to  have 
been  a  religious  rite,  either  in  the  apostolical  or  primitive 
churches,  during  the  first  or  second  century.  Neither  the 
apostolical  fathers,  nor  Justin  Martyr,  nor  Tertullian,  make 
any  mention  of  the  sacerdotal  benediction.  This  omission 
of  a  religious  rite,  in  itself  so  becoming  and  impressive,  is  the 
more  remarkable  in  the  primitive  Christians,  inasmuch  as 
they,  in  other  things,  so  closely  imitated  the  rites  of  the  Jew- 
ish synagogue,  in  which  this  was  an  established  and  impor- 
tant part  of  religious  worship. 

In  regard  to  the  reasons  of  this  omission,  writers  upon  the 
subject  are  not  agreed.  Some  suppose  that  the  secret  disci- 
pline of  the  church  afforded  occasion  for  this  omission.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  one  of  these  sacred  mysteries, 
which  were  carefully  concealed  from  the  uninitiated.  So 
scrupulous  were  the  churches  on  this  point,  that,  for  a  time, 
even  the  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer  was  prohibited  in  public  as- 
aemblies  for  religious  worship;  because  it  was  thought  that 
it  conveyed  an  allusion  to  this  sacred  and  hidden  mystery. 

Others  suppose  that  the  occurrence  of  the  sacred  name  of 
God,  Hini',  to  the  Jews,  vcrbum  horrendi  carminis,  which 
none  but  the  high-priest  was  ever  permitted  to  pronounce, 
and  he  only  once  a  year,  on  the  great  day  of  the  atonement, 
— that  the  occurrence  of  this  awful  name  of  Jehovah,  was,  to 
the  early  Christians,  a  reason  for  omitting  the  sacerdotal  be- 
nediction.5 

*  Siegel,  Handbuch,  Vol.  II.  8.114.  J.  H.  Haenen,  Exercit.  de  ri- 
tu  benedict'onis  sacerdotalis.  Jenae,  1632,  cited  by  Siegel.  August!, 
DenkwQrdigkeiten,  Vol.  X.  S.  179,  180. 


THE  BENEDICTION.  417 

But  the  reader,  we  doubt  not,  has  anticipated  us  in  assign- 
ing ahogether  another  reason  for  the  extraordinary  omission 
of  the  sacerdotal  benediction  in  the  primitive  church.  Was 
it  not  the  superintending  providence  of  God,  which  gracious- 
ly withheld  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians  from  adopt- 
ing a  rite,  rendered  obsolete  by  the  great  atoning  sacrifice  of 
the  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  and  susceptible  of  unutter- 
able abuses,  as  the  subsequent  history  of  the  church  too 
clearly  shows?  It  is  another  instance  of  those  remarkable 
omissions,  of  which  Archbishop  Whately  has  largely  treated, 
and  with  consummate  ability,  in  different  works.  He  has  no- 
ticed the  wise  precaution  with  which  God  in  his  providence  so 
ordered  events,  that  no  possible  trace  should  be  found  in  the  pri- 
mitive church,  of  any  prescribed  mode  of  church  government, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  ;  or  of  a  creed,  or  catechism,  or 
confession,  or  form  of  prayer,  or  liturgy,  upon  which  super- 
stition could  seize  as  an  invariable  rule  of  faith  and  practice, 
and  abuse  to  support  a  sanctimonious  religion,  which  should 
conform  to  the  letter,  but  disregard  the  spirit  of  his  word. 
Such  an  omission  he  regards  as  "  literally  miraculous."  Co- 
pying so  closely  after  the  synagogue,  and  yet,  against  all  their 
Jewish  prejudices,  dropping  this  rite  of  their  synagogue-wor- 
ship, the  apostles  must,  on  the  same  principle,  be  supposed 
to  have  been  supernaturally  withheld  from  taking  that  course 
which  would  naturally  have  appeared  to  them  so  desirable. 

The  apostolical  benediction,  then,  in  spirit  and  in  import, 
is  altogether  unlike  the  Aaronitic  benediction  of  the  Jews, 
or  the  prelatical  blessing  of  the  bishop  and  priest.  It  is  no- 
thing more  than  a  brief  prayer;  a  benevolent  desire,  offered 
with  solemnity  unto  God,  for  his  blessing  upon  the  pecple. 
The  several  forms  of  expression  are  one  in  meaning,  and  ex- 
press the  desire,  that  the  blessing  of  God,  both  spiritual  and 
temporal,  may  be  and  abide  with  the  worshipping  assembly. 
The  clergyman  alone  pronounces  the  benediction,  not  in  the 
vicarious  character  of  mediator  or  intercessor  between  God 


418 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 


and  his  people,  but  solely  in  conformity  with  the  apostolic 
precept,  requiring  all  things  to  be  done  decently  and  in  order. 
We  now  return  to  the  prelatical  use  of  the  benediction. 

II.  Mode  of  administering  the  rite. 

The  Jewish  priests  pronounced  the  blessing,  standing  and 
facing  the  people,  with  the  arms  uplifted,  the  hands  outspread, 
and  with  a  peculiar  position  of  the  fingers  ;6  the  congregation 
meanwhile  standing.  The  attitude  of  the  assembly  and  of 
the  officiating  priest  was  the  same  in  the  Christian  church. 
But  the  words  of  the  benediction  were  chanted,  and  the  sign 
of  the  cross  was  given. 

The  sign  of  the  cross  both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 
church,  was  regarded  as  indispensable  in  the  benediction. 
This  sign  is  still  retained,  not  only  by  the  Roman  Catholics, 
but  even  by  many  Protestants.  The  Lutherans  make  use  of 
it,  not  only  in  the  benediction,  but  in  the  consecration  of  the 
elements,  in  baptism,  ordination,  confirmation,  absolution, 
etc.  The  church  of  England  also  retained  the  sign  in  bap- 
tism."^ But  how  extensively  it  is  observed  at  present  in  that 
church,  the  writer  is  not  informed. 

«  Vitringa,  De  Synagoga,  Lib.  3.  p.  2.  c.  20.  p.  1118.  Vitringa, 
Hadria,  Reland,  Antiq.  Sac    Vet.  Heb.  p.  102. 

'  See  canon  30,  where  it  is  sanctioned  and  defended  at  length. 
The  following  is  given,  among  many  instances  of  the  studied  and  su- 
perstitious formalities  which  have  been  observed,  to  give  a  mysterious 
significancy  to  this  sign  of  the  cross  in  the  benediction.  "  Graeci 
aeque  atque  Latini,  quinque  digitis,  et  tota  manu  crucem  signantes 
benedlcunt.  Differunt  quod  Latini,  omnibus  digitis  extensis,  Graeci 
indice  medio  ac  minimo  extensis  ac  modicum  incurvatis,  non  ita  ta- 
men,  ut  inter  se  respondeant ;  sed  poUex  directione  sit,  rectaque  res- 
piciens,  medius,  poHicis  incnrvatione,  introrsum  vergat,  minimus,  in- 
ter pollicem  et  medium  dirigatur  ;  pollice  super  annularis  ad  sese  mod- 
erate deflexi  unguem  apposito  id  agunt.  Qua  se  ratione  et  tres  divi- 
nas  personas,  digitis  nempe  tribus  extensis  ;  et  duas  in  Christo  natu- 
ras  ;  duobus  ad  se  junctis,  rentur  significare." — Leo  Jitlativs^  Dc  Er.cl. 
Occid.  et  Orient,  censens.y  Lib.  3.  c.  lb.  pp.  l"3o7 — 1361,  cited  by  Au- 
gusti. 


THE  BENEDICTION.  419 

The  benediction  was  sometimes  sung,  sometimes  chanted, 
and  sometimes  pronounced  as  a  prayer.  There  was  no  gen- 
eral rule  or  uniform  custom  on  the  subject.  But  when  of- 
fered in  connection  with  the  responses  of  the  people,  it  was 
sung  and  the  responses  chanted.  Such,  according  to  Augus- 
ti,  is  still  the  custom  of  the  Lutheran  church,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent also  of  the  other  reformed  churches. 

In  many  places  the  benediction  is  pronounced  twice,  once 
at  the  close  of  the  sermon,  and  again  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
worship. 

In  Catholic  churches  the  congregation  kneel,  or  incline  the 
head,  while  the  benediction  is  pronounced.  The  priest,  ar- 
rayed in  clerical  robes,  stands  with  uplifted  hands  and  a  pe- 
culiar arrangement  of  the  fingers;  speaking  in  the  Latin 
tongue,  in  an  elevated  tone  and  with  a  prolonged  accent 
resemblinor  a  chant. 


REMARKS. 

1.  The  sacerdotal  benediction  was  very  early  made  the 
means  of  enhancing  the  sanctity  of  the  clerical  office  gen- 
erally, and  especially  of  that  of  the  bishop. 

It  was  supposed  to  have  a  peculiar  efficacy  in  propitiating 
the  favor  of  heaven.  A  mysterious,  magic  influence  w  s  as- 
cribed to  it.  Even  Chrysostom  seems  to  have  supposed  that 
it  rendered  one  invulnerable  against  the  assaults  of  sin,  and 
the  shafts  of  Satan.s  Accordingly  it  became  to  the  clergy  a 
convenient  means,  by  which  to  impress  upon  the  people  a 
sense  of  the  peculiar  sanctity  of  their  own  office,  and  the  im- 
portance of  the  blessings  which  the  people  might  receive  at 

*•  Imo  vero,  mihi  ne  commodes  horas  dnas,  sod  tibi  ipsi,  ut  ex  ora- 
tione  patriurn  aliquam  consolatione,  percipias,  ut  benedictionibus  pla- 
nus recedas,  ut  omni  exparto  securus  abeas,  ut  spiritualibus  acceptia 
armis  invictus  diabolo  et  inexpregnabilis  R-ds.— Cited  by  Siegel,  Hand- 
buck,  Vol.  II.    S.  3. 


420  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

their  hands.  Even  kings  reverently  bowed  to  receive  the 
benediction  of  the  bishops,  who,  especially,  were  not  slow  to 
take  advantage  of  this  popular  impression,  and  early  claimed 
the  exclusive  right  of  blessing  the  people.  The  subordinate 
clergy,  having  been  duly  consecrated  by  them,  were  permit- 
ted, in  their  absence  and  as  their  representatives,  to  pro- 
nounce the  benediction  upon  the  people.  Still  the  act  was 
virtually  that  of  the  bishops.  Qui  facit  per  alium  facit  per 
se.  So  that  all  clerical  grace  centred  in  the  bishop ;  and 
from  him,  through  his  clergy,  descended  upon  the  people  of 
his  diocese.9  In  this  way  the  rite  became  the  means  of  ex- 
alting the  office  of  th*e  bishop,  and  of  inspiring  the  people 
with  profound  reverence  for  him  and  his  official   character. 

2.  The  sacerdotal  benediction  was  soon  perverted  from  its 
original  and  simple  use,  and  bestowed  on  various  occasions, 
upon  a  great  variety  of  persons. 

If  the  clerical  benediction  was  attended  with  such  conse- 
quences to  the  people  in  their  religious  assemblies,  it  was  na- 
tural to  expect  the  same  effects  upon  different  classes  of  per- 
sons. Catechumens,  accordingly,  and  candidates  for  bap- 
tism, energumens,  penitents,  etc.,  became  the  separate  sub- 
jects of  this  rite.  Persons  of  every  description  and  condi- 
tion pressed  to  receive  the  blessing  of  the  priest.  Even  in 
the  age  of  Constantine  this  rage  for  the  blessing  of  the  cler- 
gy was  forcibly  manifested  in  its  manifold  applications  to  dif- 
erent  classes  of  persons.^o     To  what  a  pitch  of  extravagant 

»  J.  H.  Bohmer,  Jus   Protestant,  Lib.  3.  vit.  40.  §  14  and  41. 

^'^  G reiser  gives  the  following  instances,  among  many  others,  to 
show  in  what  estimation  the  blessing  of  the  priest  was  held.  Cum 
S.  Epiphanius  episcopus  Salaminae  Cypri  Hierosolymis  versaretur, 
omnis  aeJ.ati.s  et  sexus  turlta  conflurhat  offer  ens  parruJas  (ad  bene- 
dictionem)  pedes  deosculuns,Jimhrias  vellens,  ita  nt  gradum  jtrowove- 
re  non  vniens^  in  uno  loco  vix  fluctus  vndaritis  popvli  sust.ineret^  Vol. 
V.  p.  190.  So  also  the  venerable  Bede,  in  his  Hist.  Eccl.  Lib.  3.  c. 
26.  In  magna  erat  veneratione  tempore  illo  religionis  habitus,  ita  ut 
ubicunque  clericus  aliquis  aut  monculius  adveniret,  gaudenter  ab  om- 
nibus, tanquam  Dei  famulus  exciperetur,  et  jam  si  in  itinera  pergens 


THE  BENEDICTION.  421 

folly  and  superstition  it  afterwards  arose,  is  sufficiently  man- 
ifest in  the  rituals,  missals,  and  agenda  of  the  Romish  church^ 

3.  The  perversions  of  this  religious  rite  afford  another  il- 
lustration of  the  consequences  of  a  departure  from  the  sim- 
plicity and  spirituality  which  become  the  worship  of  God. 

Possessed  with  the  idea  that  clerical  grace  belonged  to  the* 
ecclesiastical  order,  and  might  be  imparted  to  another  by 
their  benediction,  men  sought  this  blessing  on  many,  and  of- 
ten on  frivolous  occasions.  It  became  an  essential  rite  in  al- 
most all  the  ordinances  of  religion,  and  was  pronounced 
upon  all  classes  of  persons.  It  also  became  essentially  the  con- 
secrating act  by  which  men  were  inducted  into  the  different 
orders  and  offices  of  the  church.  If  clerical  consecration 
gave  a  religious  sanctity  to  men,  so  might  it  also  to  whatever 
else  was  to  be  set  apart  to  a  religious  use.  Hence  the  con- 
secration, not  only  of  the  bread  and  wine  of  the  eucharist,  but 
of  the  church,  the  altar,  the  bell,  the  organ,  the  holy  water, 
the  baptismal  water,  and  of  almost  everything  that  belonged 
to  the  sanctuary,  or  could  be  employed  in  its  service. 

If  the  blessing  of  heaven  could  in  this  manner  be  imparted 
to  man,  so  might  it  be  also  to  his  fields,  his  flocks,  his  herds, 
and  whatever  else  might  be  employed  or  improved  for  his 
benefit.  Inneed  it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  what  class  of  men, 
or  what  amidst  all  that  is  devoted  to  the  service  of  man,  has 
not  at  some  time  been  the  subject  of  sacerdotal  benedic- 
tion.'i 

invpniretur  accurrebant,  et  flexa  cervice,  vel  manu  signari  vei  ore  il- 
lius  se  benedici  gaudebant. — Cited  by  Grclser,  as  above. 

"  The  Gregorian  Sacramentary,  for  example,  specifies  the  follow- 
ing particulars  in  wfiich  the  benediction  of  the  priest  was  pro- 
nounced,— Benedictio  domus — et  novae  domus. — Putei — Uvae  vel 
favi — Ad  fruges  novas — Ad  omnia  quae  volueris — Crinis  novae — Ag- 
ni  et  aliarum  carnium — Casei  et  ovorum — Ad  quemcunque  fructuni 
novarum  arborum — Peregrinantium,  itenerantium.  To  which  many 
things  have  been  added,  such  as  Navis — Armorum,  eusis,  pilei  et 
vexilli,  Turris,  Thalami  conjugalis,  sepulchri,  etc. 

36 


422  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

When  once  the  mind  has  taken  its  departure  from  the 
great  principles  of  religion,  which,  whether  relating  to  faith 
or  practice,  are  few  and  simple,  it  wanders,  in  endless  mazes 
lost,  uncertain  where  or  upon  what  to  settle,  and  be  again  at 
rest.  So  easy  and  natural,  and  so  disastrous  withal,  is  the 
descent  of  the  human  mind,  from  that  which  is  inward  and 
spiritual  in  religion,  and  pure  and  simple  in  its  manifestation, 
to  that  which  is  outward  and  formal. 

4.  The  foregoing  considerations  suggest  another  strong  ob- 
jection to  prelacy ; — its  tendency  to  superstition. 

It  is  indeed  a  besettincr  sin  in  man,  to  give  a  mis-direction 
to  his  religious  feelings,  by  a  veneration  for  unworthy  objects, 
or  by  an  inordinate  reverence  for  what  is  really  venerable  in 
religion.  Every  religious  ceremony,  however  appropriate,  is 
liable  to  degenerate  into  a  mere  form,  and  consequently  to  en- 
courage superstition.  But  this  danger  is  immensely  increased 
by  the  multiplication  of  rites  and  forms.  The  attention 
given  to  them  soon  becomes  inordinate,  extravagant,  super- 
stitious. The  tendency  to  superstition  increases  in  proportion 
to  the  number  and  insignificance  of  the  objects  which  are 
thus  invested  with  religious  veneration.  And  is  there  not 
much  in  the  Episcopal  system,  to  create  and  foster  such  a 
tendency  ?  This  profound  veneration  for  saints  and  saints' 
days,  and  for  things  that  have  been  the  subject  of  Episcopal 
consecration,  this  punctilious  observance  of  festivals  and  fasts, 
this  scrupulous  adherence  to  the  rubric,  and  the  letter  of  the 
prayer-book,  this  anxious  attention  to  clerical  costume,  to  at- 
titudes and  postures, — what  is  it  all  but  superstition  ?  giving 
a  religious  importance  to  that  which  has  nothing  to  do  with 
heartfelt  and  practical  religion  ?  Even  the  bishop  of  London 
in  a  late  charge,  while  he  professedly  condemns  the  Oxford 
superstitions,  expresses  great  anxiety  that  the  rubric  should 
be  closely  adhered  to,  wishes  all  his  clergy  to  preach  in  lohite, 
sees  "  no  harm,"  in  two  wax  candles,  provided  they  are  not 
lighted;  and  approves  of  the  arrangement  "  lately  adopted 


THE  BENEDICTION.  423 

in  several  churches,  by  which  the  clergyman  looks  to  the  south 
while  reading  prayers,  and  to  the  west  while  reading  lessons  1" 

5.  Episcopacy  encourages,  indirectly,  if  it  does  not  direct- 
ly inculcate,  the  notion  of  a  vicarious  religion. 

Ancient  prelacy  transformed  the  minister  of  Christ,  under 
the  gospel  dispensation,  into  a  Levitical  priest.  By  this  means 
the  Christian  religion  was  changed  into  something  more  re- 
sembling Judaism  or  Paganism,  than  Christianity.  The 
priesthood  became  a  distinct  order,  created  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  God  and  invested  with  high  prerogatives  as  a  vicari- 
ous propitiatory  ministry /or  the  people  ; — the  constituted  me- 
dium of  communicating  grace  from  God  to  man. '2  The  na- 
ture of  the  sacraments  was  changed.  The  sacramental  table 
became  an  altar ^  and  the  contributions  of  the  people  an  offer- 
ing to  the  Lord.  Papacy  has  held  firmly  to  this  doctrine  of 
a  vicarious  religion  down  to  the  present  time.  Indeed  no 
small  share  of  the  corruptions  of  that  '*  mystery  of  iniquity," 
originated  in  its  false  idea  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

Protestantism  at  the  Reformation  was  but  half  divorced 
from  this  delusion,  and  indications  of  its  existence  are  still 
manifest  in  Protestant  Episcopacy.  The  very  name  of 
*^  priest  "  is  carefully  retained ;  one  of  the  second  order  of  the 
clergy  is  not  a  minister,  a  presbyter,  a  pastor,  in  the  ritual, 
but  always  a  ^^  priest. ^^  The  bishop  is  a  reverend,  or  right 
reverend  "  father  in  God."  And  then  that  clerical  grace 
which  flows  only  through  this  appointed  channel  of  commu- 
nication between  God  and  man,  the  grace  that  is  given  by  the 
imposition  of  the  bishop's  hands,  the  grace  imparted  to  re- 
generate the  soul  in  baptism,  the  grace  that  establishes  the 
soul  and  seals  the  covenant  in  confirmation,  the  mysterious 
grace  imparted  in  the  benediction  ;  provided  always,  that  the 
act  be  duly  solemnized  by  a  priest  divinely  appointed  and  epis- 
copally  ordained, — verily,  all  these  resemble  more  the  minis- 

^2  Sacertlos  constituitur  medius  inter  Deura  et  poplum. — Th.  Jlqui- 
nas,  Summa  3.  p.  22. 


424  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

trations  of  the  Levitical  priesthood,  tlian  of  the  pastors  and 
teachers  whom  Christ  gave  "  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry  J3"- 

Momentous  consequences  followed  from  the  substitution 
of  a  vicarious  priesthood.  No  church  without  a  bishop,  apos- 
tolical succession,  divine  right,  the  exclusive  validity  of  Epis- 
copal ordination,  baptismal  regeneration,  the  mysterious  effica- 
cy of  the  sacraments,  the  grace  of  Episcopal  benediction  and 
confirmation  ; — truly  these  are  awful  mysteries;  and  they  af- 
fect more  or  less  the  whole  economy  of  grace.  The  natural 
and  logical  results  of  such  a  faith  are  seen  in  the  movements 
of  the  Oxford  Tractarians.  The  great  object  of  these  "  un- 
protestantizing"  reformers  is,  to  re-instate  in  the  church  the 
prelatical  ministry  of  other  days,  and  to  restore  a  vicarious 
religion  with  its  endless  absurdities  and  superstitions.  Thus 
"  the  character  of  the  church  of  Christ  is  changed.  She  is 
made  to  stand  in  the  place  of  the  Redeemer,  whose  work  is 
marred.  His  atonement  is  incomplete,  his  righteousness  in- 
sufficient. Ceremonies  are  multiplied,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  no  longer  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  office  of  the  ministers  is  of  course  entire- 
ly changed  and  their  true  character  lost.  Thunders  more 
awful  than  those  of  Sinai  are  heard.  All  is  discouragement : 
the  object  of  the  Christian  ministiy  in  their  hands  being  ap- 
parently to  try  how  difficult,  how  painful,  how  uncertain  the 
Christian's  course  can  be  made  with  that  ministry,  and  how 
impossible  without  it ! 

"  In  a  word,  their  steps  are  dark,  their  ministrations  mys- 
terious ;  suited  rather  to  the  office  of  a  priest  of  some  heathen 
mythology  than  of  ambassadors  from  Christ,  ministers  of  the 
everlasting  gospel,  whose  feet  are  beautiful  upon  the  moun- 
tains, as  those  that  bring  glad  tidings,  that  publish  peace. 

"  Behold  almost  a  whole  convention  moving  off  in  a  body  to  pros- 
trate themselves  before  their  bishop,  and  receive  his  blessing.  Such 
are  the  superstitions  connected  with  the  perversion  of  the  benediction. 


THE  BENEDICTION.  425 

"  The  aspect  which  it  wears  towards  those  of  other  com- 
munions is  fearful  in  the  extreme.  No  purity  of  faith,  no  la- 
bor of  love,  no  personal  piety,  no  manifestation  of  the  fruits  of 
the  Spirit,  will  avail  anything.  Though  steadfast  in  faith, 
joyful  through  hope,  and  rooted  in  charity,  they  pass  not 
through  the  eye  of  this  needle,  and  shall  not  see  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

The  great  evil  of  such  a  system  is,  that  it  is  a  religion  of 
forms,  of  mysterious  rites  and  awful  prerogatives.  Heaven  in 
mercy  save  us  from  a  religion  which  substitutes  these  things 
for  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  To  Episcopacy  in  any  form,  the  one  great  objection 
which  includes  almost  all  others  is  this — it  unavoidably,  if 
not  intentionally,  encourages  that  besetting  sin  of  man, — the 
innate  propensity  to  substitute  the  outward  form  for  the  in- 
ward  spirit  of  religion. 

We  close,  therefore,  this  protracted  view  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  Worship  of  the  Primitive  Church,  with  a  deepened 
impression  of  the  greatness  of  that  wisdom  from  on  high, 
which  guided  the  apostles  in  adopting  an  organization  so  sim- 
ple and  at  the  same  time  so  efficient  in  promoting  those  great 
ends  for  which  the  church  of  Christ  was  instituted  ;  which 
also  directed  them  in  the  establishment  of  those  simple  and 
impressive  forms  of  worship,  which  most  happily  promote 
the  spirituality  and  sincerity  in  the  worship  of  God,  that 
alone  are  well  pleasing  in  his  sight.  Nor  can  we  resist  the 
conviction,  that  the  substitution  of  the  Episcopal  government 
and  worship  for  the  apostolical,  was  an  efficient  if  not  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  that  degeneracy  and  formality,  which  soon  suc- 
ceeded to  the  primitive  spirituality  and  purity  of  the  church. 
It  began  in  the  multiplication  of  church  officers  and  ceremo- 
nies. Everything  that  could  attract  attention  to  religion  by 
its  pomp  and  ceremony  was  carefully  brought  to  the  aid  of  the 
church.  It  had  been  alleged  by  the  heathen  as  an  objection 
to  the  Christians,  that  they  had  no  solemn  rites,  nothing  attrac- 
36* 


426  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

tive,  nothing  imposing  to  command  the  admiration  of  men. 
To  obviate  this  objection  and  reconcile  the  heathen  to  the 
Christian  religion,  not  a  few  even  of  these  pagan  rites,  with  a  lit- 
tle variation,  were  incorporated  into  the  rituals  of  the  church- 
es. After  this  fatal  departure  from  the  spirit  of  the  gospel, 
the  progress  of  declension  exhibited  in  constantly  increasing 
ostentation  and  formality,  was  easy  and  rapid.  The  elegant 
and  forcible  language  of  Robert  Hall  is  the  happiest  expres- 
sion which  we  can  give  to  bur  view  of  this  speedy  and  disas- 
trous degeneracy.  "  The  descent  of  the  human  mind,  from 
the  spirit  to  the  letter,  from  what  is  vital  and  intellectual  to 
what  is  ritual  and  external  in  religion,  is  the  true  source  of 
idolatry  and  superstition  in  all  the  multifarious  forms  which 
they  have  assumed ;  and  as  it  began  early  to  corrupt  the  re- 
ligion of  nature,  or  more  properly  of  patriarchal  tradition,  so 
it  soon  obscured  the  lustre  and  destroyed  the  simplicity  of 
the  Christian  institute.  In  proportion  as  genuine  devotion 
declined,  the  love  of  pomp  and  ceremony  increased.  The 
few  and  simple  rites  of  Christianity  were  extolled  beyond  all 
reasonable  bounds ;  new  ones  were  invented,  to  which  mys- 
terious meanings  were  attached  !  till  the  religion  of  the  New 
Testament  became  in  process  of  time  as  insupportable  as  the 
Mosaic  law." 


'■t^ 


APPENDIX. 


The  reader  will  better  understand  the  propriety  of  calling  the 
Episcopal  liturgy  "  an  extract  of  the  mass  translated, "  by  com- 
paring some  extracts  from  the  Mass  Book,  with  corresponding 
portions  from  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  For  the  sake  of 
comparison  they  are  set  in  parallel  columns. 


FESTIVALS. 


MASS    BOOK. 


PRAYER  BOOK. 


^  Table  of  the  Festivals^  ichich  are 
to  be  observed  by  all  the  Catholics 
of  the  U.  States,  according  to  the 
last  Regulations  of  the  Holy  See. 

All  the  Lord's  days  throughout 
the  year. 

Circumcision. 

Epiphany. 

Purification. 

St.  Matthias. 

Sf.  Joseph. 

Annunciation. 

St.  Mark. 

St.  Philip  and  St.  James. 

Finding  of  the  Cross. 

JNativity  of  St  John  Baptist. 

St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 

St.  James. 

St.  Ann. 

St.  Lawrence. 

Assumption. 

St.  Bartholomew. 

Nativity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

Exaltation  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

St.  Matthew. 

St.  Michael. 

St.  Luke. 

St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude. 

All  Saints. 

All  Souls. 

St.  Andrew. 
Conception. 


^  Table  of  Feasts,  to  be  observed 
in  this  Church,  throughout  the 
Year. 

All  Sundays  in  the  Year. 

The  Circumcision  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  Epiphany. 

The  Conversion  of  St.  Paul. 

The  Purification  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin. 

St.  Matthias  the  Apostle. 

The  Annunciation  of  the  Bless- 
ed Virgin. 

St.  Mark  the  Evangelist. 

St.  Philip  and  St.  James,  the 
the  Apostles. 

The  Ascension  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

St.  Barnabas. 

The  Nativity  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist. 

St.  Peter  the  Apostle. 

St.  James  the  Apostle. 

St.  Bartholomew  the  Apostle. 

St.  Matthew  the  Apostle. 

St.  Michael  and  all  Angels. 

St.  Luke  the  Evangelist. 

St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude,  the 
Apostles. 

All  Saints. 

St.  Andrew  the  Apostle. 

St.  Thomas  the  Apostle. 


428 


APPENDIX. 


MASS  BOOK. 

St.  Thomas. 
Christmas. 
St.  Stephen. 
St.  John. 
Holy  Innocents. 
Easter  Monday. 
Easter  Tuesday. 
Ascension  Day. 
Whitsun  Monday. 
Whitsun  Tuesday. 
Corpus  Christi  Day. 


PRAYER  BOOK. 

The  Nativity  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

St.  Stephen  the  Martyr. 

St.  Jolm  the  Evangelist. 

The  Holy  Innocents. 

Monday  and  Tuesday  in  Eas- 
ter-Week. 

Monday  and  Tuesday  in  Whit- 
sun-Week. 


FASTS. 


The  forty  days  of  Lent. 

The  ember  days  at  the  four  sea- 
sons, being  the  Wednesday,  Fri- 
day and  Saturday,  of  the  first  week 
in  Lent ;  of  Whitsun-week  ;  af- 
ter the  14th  of  September ;  and  of 
the  third  week  in  Advent. 

The  Wednesdays  and  Fridays 
of  all  the  four  weeks  of  Advent. 

The  vigils  or  eves  of  Whitsun- 
day ;  of  the  Saints  Peter  and  Paul ; 
of  the  Assumption  of  the  Bless- 
ed Virgin  ;  of  All  Saints;  and  of 
Christmas  day. 

All  Fridays  throughout  the  year. 
The  abstinence  on  Saturday  is 
dispensed  with,  for  the  faithful 
throughout  the  United  States,  for 
the  space  often  years  (from  1833) 
except  when  a  fast  falls  on  Satur- 
day. 


^sh-  Wednesday. 
Good -Friday. 

Other  Days  of  Fasting ;  on 
which  the  Church  requires  such  a 
Measure  of  Jihstinence,  as  is  more 
especially  suited  to  extraordinary 
Jicts  and  Exercises  of  Devotion  : 

The  Season  of  Lent. 

The  Ember-days  at  the  Four 
Seasons,  being  the  Wednesday, 
Friday,  and  Saturday,  after  the 
first  Sunday  in  Lent,  the  Feast  of 
Pentecost,  September  14,  and  De- 
cember 13. 

The  three  Rogation  Days,  being 
the  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wed- 
esday  before  Holy  Thursday,  or 
the  Ascension  of  our  Lord. 

All  the  Fridays  in  the  year,  ex- 
cept Christmas-Day. 


PREFACE. 


It  is  truly  meet,  and  just,  right 
and  available,  that  we  always,  and 
in  all  places,  give  thanks  to  thee, 
O  holy  Lord,  Father  Almighty, 
eternal  God  :  Through  Christ  our 
Lord  ;  by  whom  the  Angels  praise 
thy  Majesty,  the  dominations 
adore  it,  the  powers  tremble  be- 
fore it,  the  heavens  and  the  hea- 
venly virtues,  and  blessed  Sera- 
phim, with  common  joy,  glorify 
it :  With  whom  we  beseech  thee, 
that  we  may  be  admitted  to  join 
our  voices  ;  saying  in  an  humble 
manner : — 


Dearly  beloved  brethren,  the 
scripture  moveth  us,  m  sundry 
places  to  acknowledge  and  con- 
fess our  manifold  sins  and  wick- 
edness, and  that  we  should  not 
dissemble  nor  cloak  them  before 
the  face  of  Almighty  God,  our 
heavenly  Father,  but  confess 
them  with  an  humble,  lowly,  pen- 
itent, and  obedient  heart ;  to  the 
end  that  we  may  obtain  forgive- 
ness of  the  same,  by  his  infinite 
goodness  and  mercy.  And  al- 
though we  ought,  at  all  times, 
humbly  to  acknowledge  our  sins 


APPENDIX. 


429 


MASS  BOOK. 


[The  Lord's  Prayer  often  re- 
peated.] 


PRAYER  BOOK. 

before  God  ;  yet  ought  we  chiefly 
so  to  do,  when  we  assemble  and 
meet  together,  to  render  thanks 
for  the  great  benefits  that  we  have 
received  at  his  hands,  to  set  forth 
his  most  wortliy  praise,  to  hear 
his  most  holy  word,  and  to  ask 
those  things  which  are  requisite 
and  necessary,  as  well  for  the 
body  as  the  soul.  Wherefore  I 
pray  and  beseech  you,  as  many 
as  are  here  present,  to  accompa- 
ny me,  with  a  pure  heart  and 
humble  voice,  unto  the  throne  of 
the  heavenly  grace,  saying  : — 

[The   same    wearisome   repeti- 
tions.] 


Gloria  PatrL 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to 
the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost ; 

As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is 
now,  and  ever  shall  be,  world  with- 
out end. 


Venite,  exultemus  Domino. 

Come  let  us  praise  the  Lord 
with  joy  ;  let  us  joyfully  sing  to 
God  our  Saviour.  Let  us  come 
before  his  presence  with  thanks- 
giving, and  let  us  make  a  jubila- 
tion to  him  with  psalms. 

For  the  Lord  is  a  great  God,  and 
a  great  King  above  all  Gods  ;  for 
the  Lord  will  not  reject  his  people. 
For  in  his  hands  are  all  the  ends 
of  the  earth  ;  and  the  heights  of 
the  mountains  are  his. 

For  the  sea  is  his,  and  he  made 


Gloria  Patri. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to 
the  Son  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost. 

As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is 
now  and  ever  shall  be  world  with- 
out end. 

["By  this  rubric,"  say  the  Com- 
missioners of  1661,  "  the  Gloria 
Patri  is  appointed  to  be  said  six 
times  ordinarily,  in  every  morn- 
ing and  evening  service,  frequent- 
ly eight  times  in  the  morning  and 
sometimes  ten  ;  which,  we  think 
carries  with  it,  at  least,  an  ap- 
pearance of  that  vain  repetition 
which  Christ  forbids."] 

Venite^  exultemus  Domino. 

O  come,  let  us  sing  unto  the 
Lord,  let  us  heartily  rejoice  in  the 
strength  of  our  salvation. 

Let  us  come  before  his  presence 
with  thanksgiving,  and  show  our- 
selves glad  in  him  with  psalms. 

For  the  Lord  is  a  great  God  ; 
and  a  great  King  above  all  gods. 

In  his  hand  are  all  the  corners 
of  the  earth  ;  and  the  strength  of 
the  hills  is  his  also. 

The  sea  is  his,  and  he  made  it  j 


APPENDIX. 


MASS  BOOK. 

it ;  and  his  hands  have  formed  the 
dry  land.  Coine  let  us  adore  and 
fall  down  before  God  ;  let  us  weep 
before  the  Lord  that  made  us. 
For  he  is  the  Lord  our  God  ;  and 
we  are  his  people,  and  the  sheep 
of  his  pasture. 

To-day,  if  you  shall  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts.  As 
in  the  provocation,  according  to 
the  day  of  ten)ptation  in  the  wil- 
derness, where  your  fathers  tempt- 
ed me  ;  they  proved  me,  and  saw 
my  works. 

Forty  years  long  was  I  offended 
with  that  generation  ;  and  I  said, 
these  TTitn  always  err  in  their 
hearts.  And  they  have  not  known 
my  ways ;  so  I  swore  in  my 
wrath,  that  they  should  not  enter 
into  my  rest. 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

and  his  hands  prepared  the  dry 
land. 

O  come,  let  us  worship  and 
fall  down  ;  and  kneel  before  the 
Lord,  our  Maker. 

For  he  is  the  Lord  our  God ; 
and  we  are  the  people  of  his  pas- 
ture, and  the  sheep  of  his  hand. 

O  worship  the  Lord  in  the 
beauty  of  holiness  ;  let  the  whole 
earth  stand  in  awe  of  him. 

For  he  cometh,  for  he  cometh 
to  judge  the  earth ;  and  with 
righteousness  to  judge  the  world, 
and  the  people  with  his  truth. 


Gloria  in  Excelsis. 
Glory  be  to  God  on  high,  and 
peace  on  earth  to  men  of  good  will; 
we  praise  thee  ;  we  bless  thee  ; 
we  adore  thee  ;  we  glorify  thee  ; 
we  give  thee  thanks  for  thy  great 
glory,  O  Lord  God,  heavenly 
King,  God  the  Father  Almighty  : 
O  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only 
begotten  Son ;  O  Lord  God,  Lamb 
of  God,  Son  of  the  Father;  who 
takest  away  ihe  sins  of  the  world, 
have  mercy  on  us  ;  who  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  receive 
our  prayer ;  who  sittest  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father,  have  mercy 
on  us.  For  thou  only  art  holy  ; 
thou  only  art  the  Lord  ;  thou  on- 
ly, O  Jesus  Christ,  together  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  art  most  high  in 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father. 
Amen. 


Gloria  in  Excelsis. 

Glory  be  to  God  on  high,  and 
on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards 
men.  We  praise  thee,  we  bless 
thee,  we  worship  thee,  we  glorify 
thee,  we  give  thanks  to  thee  for 
thy  great  glory,  O  Lord  God, 
heavenly  King.  God  the  Father 
Almighty. 

O  Lord,  the  only  begotten  Son, 
Jesus  Christ ;  O  Lord  God,  Lamb 
of  God,  Son  of  the  Father,  that 
takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world, 
have  mercy  upon  us.  Thou  that 
takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world, 
have  mercy  upon  us.  Thou  that 
takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world, 
receive  our  prayer.  Thou  that 
sittest  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
the  Father  have  mercy  upon  us. 

For  thou  only  art  holy  ;  thou 
only  art  the  Lord  ;  thou  only,  O 
Christ,  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  art 
most  high  in  the  Glory  of  God 
the  Father.     Amen. 


Te  Denm  laudamus. 
Thee,  Sovereign  God,  our  grate- 
ful accents  praise ; 


Te  Deum  laudamus. 
We  praise  thee,  O  God  ;  we  ac- 
knowledge thee  to  be  the  Lord. 


APPENDIX. 


431 


MASS  BOOK. 

We  own  thee,  Lord,  and  bless 
thy  wond'ious  ways. 

To  thee,  eternal  Father,  earth's 
whole  frame 

With  loudest  trumpets  sound  im- 
mortal fame. 

Lord  God  of  hosts  !  to  thee  the 
heav'nly  powrs 

With  sounding  anthems  fill  thy 
vaulted  tow'rs  : 

Thy  Cherubs,  Holy,  Holy,  Ho- 
ly cry  ; 

Thrice,  Holy,  all  the  Seraphim 
reply. 

Both  heav'n  and  earth  thy  ma- 
jesty display  : 

They  owe  their  beauty  to  thy 
glorious  ray. 

Thy  praises  fill  the  loud  Apos- 
tles' choir  ; 

The  train  of  Prophets  in  the  song 
conspire  ; 

Legions  of  Martyrs  in  the  cho- 
rus shine  ; 

And  vocal  blood  with  vocal  mu- 
sic join. 

By  these  thy  Church,  inspir'd 
with  heav'nly  art, 

Around  the  world  maintains  a 
second  part, 

And  tunes  her  sweetest  notes, 
O  God,  to  thee. 

The  Father  of  unbounded  ma- 
jesty, 

The  Son,  ador'd  co-partner  of 
thy  seat, 

And  equal,  everlasting  Paraclete. 

Thou  King  of  glory,  Christ,  of 
the  Most  High, 

Thou  co-eternal,  filial  Deity  ; 

Thou,  to  save  the  world  from 
impending  doom, 

Vouclisaf'st  to  dwell  within  a  Vir- 
gin's womb  ; 

Death  thou  hast  conquer'd  ;  from 
its  fetters  free, 

The  faithful  in  thy  kingdom  reign 
with  thee. 

At  God's  right  hand,  on  a  resplen- 
dent throne 

Thou  sitt'st ;  thy  Father's  glory 
is  thy  own. 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

All  the  earth  doth  worship  thee, 
the  Father  everlasting. 

To  thee  all  Angels  cry  aloud  ; 
the  Heavens,  and  all  the  Powers 
therein. 

To  thee.  Cherubim  and  Sera- 
phim continually  do  cry. 

Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God 
of  Sabaoth. 

Heaven  and  Earth  are  full  of 
the  Majesty   of  thy  Glory. 

The  glorious  company  of  the 
Apostles  praise  thee. 

The  goodly  fellowship  of  the 
Prophets  praise  thee. 

The  noble  army  of  Martyrs 
praise  thee. 

The  holy  Church,  throughout 
all  the  world,  doth  acknowledge 
thee. 

The  Father,  of  an  infinite  Ma- 
jesty ; 

Thine  adorable,  true,  and  only 
Son  ; 

Also  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Com- 
forter. 

Thou  art  the  Kinir  of  Glory, 
O  Christ. 

Thou  art  the  everlasting  Son 
of  the  Father. 

When  thou  tookest  upon  thee 
to  deliver  man,  thou  didst  hum- 
ble thyself  to  be  born  of  a  Virgin. 

When  thou  hadst  overcome  the 
sharpness  of  death,  thou  didst 
open  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to 
all  believers. 

Thou  sittest  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  in  the  Glory  of  the  Fath- 
er. 

We  believe  that  thou  shalt 
come  to  be  our  Judge. 

We  therefore  pi  ay  thee,  help 
thy  servants,  whom  thou  hast  re- 
deemed with  thy  precious  blood. 

Make  them  to  be  numbered 
with  thy  saints,  in  glory  everlast- 
ing. 

O  Lord,  save  thy  people,  and 
bless  thine  heritage. 

Govern  them  and  lift  them  up 
for  ever. 


432 


APPENDIX. 


MASS   BOOK. 

Thou  art  to  judge  the  living  and 
the  dead  ; 

Then  spare  those  souls  for  whom 
thy  veins  have  bled. 

O  take  us  up  amongst  the  bless'd 
above, 

To  share  with  them  thy  everlast- 
ing love. 

Preserve,  O  Lord,  thy  people,  and 
enhance 

Thy  blessing  on  thy  own  inheri- 
tance : 

Forever  raise  their  hearts,  and 
rule  their  ways  : 

Each  day  we  bless  thee,  and  pro- 
claim thy  praise. 

No  age  shall  fail  to  celebrate  thy 
name. 

Nor  hour  neglect  thy  everlasting 
fame. 

Preserve  our  souls,  O  Lord,  this 
day  from  ill  ; 

Have  mercy  on  us.  Lord,  have 
mercy  still  : 

As  we  fiave  hop'd,  do  thou  re- 
gard our  pain  ; 

"We've  hop'd  in  thee  ;  let  not  our 
hope  be  vain. 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

And  we  worship  thy  name, 
ever,  world  without  end. 

Vouchsafe,  O  Lord,  to  keep  us 
this  day  without  sin. 

O  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us, 
have  mercy  upon  us. 

O  Lord,  let  thy  mercy  be  upon 
us  ;  as  our  trust  is  in  thee. 

O  Lord,  in  thee  have  1  trusted 
let  me  never  be  confounded. 

Day  by  day  we  magnify  thee, 


The  Bencd/clte,  or  Canticle  of  the 
Three  Children.     Daniel  iii. 

All  ye  works  of  tlie  Lord,  bless 
the  Lord  ;  praise  and  exalt  him 
above  all,  forever. 

O  all  ye  angels  of  the  Lord, 
bless  the  Lord ;  O  ye  heavens, 
bless  the  Lord. 


O  all  ye  waters  that  are  above 
the  heavens,  bless  the  Lord  ;  O 
all  ye  powers  of  the  Lord  bless 
the  Lord. 


O  ye  sun  and  moon,  bless  the 
Lord  ;  O  ye  stars  of  heaven, bless 
the  Lord. 


Benedicite,  omnia  opera  Domini. 

O  All  ye  Works  of  the  Lord, 
bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him, 
and  magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Angels  of  the  Lord,  bless 
ye  the  Lord ;  praise  him,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Heavens,  bless  ye  the 
Lord  ;  praise  him,  and  magnify 
him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Waters  that  be  above  the 
Firmament,  bless  ye  the  Lord  ; 
praise  him,  and  magnify  him  for 
ever. 

O  all  ye  Powers  of  the  Lord, 
bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him, 
and  magnify  him  fur  ever. 

O  ye  Sun  and  Moon,  bless  ye 
the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Stars  of  Heaven,  bless  ye 


APPENDIX. 


433 


MASS  BOOK. 


O  every  shower  and  dew.  bless 
ye  the  Lord  ;  O  all  ye  spirits  of 
God,  bless  the  Lord. 


O  ye  fire  and  heat,  bless  the 
Lord  ;  O  ye  cold  and  heat,  bless 
the  Lord. 


O  ye  dews  and  hoary  frost,  bless 
the  Lord  ;  O  ye  frost  and  cold 
bless  the  Lord. 


O  ye  ice  and  snow,  bless  the 
Lord  ;  O  ye  nights  and  days  bless 
the  Lord. 


O  ye  I'ght  and  darkness,  bless 
the  Lord  ;  O  ye  lightnings  and 
clouds,  bless  the  Lord. 


O  let  the  earth  bless  the  Lord  ; 
let  it  praise  and  exalt  him  above 
all,  forever. 

O  ye  mountains  and  hills,  bless 
the  Lord  ;  O  all  ye  things  that 
spring  up  in  the  earth,  bless  the 
Lord. 


O  ye  fountains  bless  the  Lord  ; 
O  ye  seas  and  rivers,  bless  the 
Lord. 


O  ye  whales,  and  all  that  move 
in  the  waters,  bless  the  Lord  ;  O 
all  ye  fowls  of  the  air,  bless  the 
Lord. 

37 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

the  Lord  :  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Siiowers  and  Dew,  bles» 
ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him,,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Winds  of  God,  bless  ye 
the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Fire  and  Heat,  bless  ye- 
the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Winter  and  Summer, 
bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Dews  and  Frosts,  bless 
ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Frost  and  Cold,  bless  ye 
the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Ice  and  Snow,  bless  ye 
the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Nights  and  Days,  bless 
ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Light  and  Darkness,  bless 
ye  the  Lord ;  praise  him,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Lightnings  and  Clouds,, 
bless  ye  the  Lord ;  praise  him, 
and  magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  let  the  Earth  bless  the  Lord  ; 
yea,  let  it  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Mountains  and  Hills, 
bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him, 
and  magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  all  ye  green  Things  upon 
Earth,  bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise 
him,  and  magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Wells,  bless  ye  the  Lf»rd  ; 
praise  him,  and  magnify  him  for 
ever. 

O  ye  Seas  and  Floods,  bless  ye 
the  Lord;  praise  him,  and  mag- 
nify him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Whales,  and  all  that 
move  in  the  Waters,  bless  ye  the 
Lord  ;  praise  him,  and  magnify 
him  for  ever. 


434 


APPENDIX. 


MASS  BOOK. 


O  all  ye  beasts  and  cattle,  bless 
the  Lord  ;  O  ye  sons  of  men  bless 
the  Lord. 


O  let  Israel  bless  the  Lord  ;  let 
them  praise  him  and  exalt  him 
above  all,  forever. 

O  ye  priests  of  the  Lord,  bless 
the  Lord;  O  ye  servants  of  the 
Lord,  bless  the  Lord. 


O  ye  spirits  and  souls  of  the 
just,  bless  the  Lord  ;  O  ye  holy 
and  humble  of  heart,  bless  the 
Lord. 

O  Ananias,  Azarius,  and  Misa- 
el,  bless  ye  the  Lord ;  praise  and 
exalt  him  above  all,  forever. 

Let  us  bless  the  Father,  and 
the  Son,  with  the  holy  Ghost ;  let 
us  praise  him  and  magnify  him 
forever. 

Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  in 
the  firmament  of  heaven,  and  wor- 
thy of  praise,  and  glorious  and 
magnified  forever. 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

O  all  ye  Fowls  of  the  Air,  bless 
ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  all  ye  Beasts  and  Cattle, 
bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him, 
and  magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Children  of  Men,  bless 
ye  the  Loid;  praise  him,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  let  Israel  bless  the  Lord ; 
praise  him,  and  magnify  him  for 
ever. 

O  ye  Priests  of  the  Lord,  bless 
ye  the  Lord ;  praise  him,  and 
magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Servants  of  the  Lord, 
bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise  him, 
and  magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  Spirits  and  Souls  of  the 
righteous,  bless  ye  the  Lord ; 
praise  him,  and  magnify  him  for 
ever. 

O  ye  holy  and  humble  Men  of 
heart,  bless  ye  the  Lord  ;  praise 
him,  and  magnify  him  for  ever. 


CREEDS. 

The  creeds  are  both  taken  entire  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
ritual. 


The  Jipostles'  Creed. 
I  believe  in  God,  the  Father 
Almighty,  Creator  of  heaven  and 
earth  ;  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  his 
only  Son,  our  Lord,  who  was  con- 
ceived by  the  Holy  Ghost, born  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  suffer  d  under 
Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead 
and  buried  :  he  descended  into 
hell :  the  third  day  he  rose  again 
from  the  dead  .  he  ascended  into 
heaven,  and  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  the  Father  Almigh- 


The  Apostles'  Creed. 

I  believe  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  Maker  of  Heaven  and 
Earth  : 

And  in  Jesus  Christ  his  only 
Son  our  Lord  ;  "Who  was  con- 
ceived by  the  Holy  Ghost,  Born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  Suffered  un- 
der Pontius  Pilate,  Was  crucified, 
dead,  and  buried  ;  He  descended 
into  Hell ;  The  third  day  he  rose 
from  the  dead  :  He  ascended  into 
Heaven,  And  sitteth  on  the  right 


APPENDIX. 


4^ 


MASS  BOOK. 

ty  :  from  thence  he  will  come  to 
judge  the  living  and  the  dead.  I 
believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  the  Com- 
munion of  saints,  the  forgiveness 
of  sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  bo- 
dy, and  life  everlasting. — Amen. 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty; 
From  thence  he  shall  con)e  to 
judge  the  quick  and  the  dead. 

I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
The  Holy  Catholic  Church  ;  The 
communion  of  Saints ;  The  for- 
giveness of  sins  ;  The  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body,  And  the  life 
everlasting.     Jimcn. 


The  Nicene,  Creed. 

I  believe  in  one  God,  The  Fa- 
ther Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven 
and  earth,  and  of  all  things,  visi- 
ble and  invisible. 

And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  only  begotten  Son  of  God  : 
and  born  of  the  Father  before  all 
ages  ;  God  of  Go'd,  Light  of  Light, 
true  God  of  true  God ;  begotten, 
not  made  ;  consubstantial  to  the 
Father,  by  whom  all  things  were 
made  :  who,  for  us  men,  and  for 
our  salvation,  came  down  from 
heaven,  and  was  incarnate  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  was  made  man  :  was  crucified 
also  for  us,  suffered  under  Ponti- 
us Pilate,  and  was  buried  ;  and 
the  third  day  he  rose  again,  ac- 
cording to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  as- 
cended into  heaven ;  sitteth  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father  ;  and 
shall  come  again  with  glory,  to 
judge  both  the  living  and  the  dead; 
of  whose  kingdom  there  shall  be 
no  end. 

And  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Lord  and  Giver  of  life  ;  who  pro- 
ceedeth  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son  ;  who,  together  with  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  son,  is  adored  and 
glorified  ;  who  spoke  by  the  Pro- 
phets. And  one  holy  Catholic  and 
Apostolic  Church.  I  confess  one 
Baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins. 
And  1  expect  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  and  the  life  of  the  world 
to  come,    Jimen. 


The  JVicene  Creed. 

I  bel-eve  in  one  God,  the  Fa- 
ther Almighty,  Maker  of  Heaven 
and  Earth,  and  of  all  things  vis- 
ible and  invisible  : 

And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  only  begotten  Son  of  God, 
begotten  of  his  Father  before  all 
worlds ;  God  of  God,  Light  of 
Light,  very  God  of  very  God,  be- 
gotten, not  made,  being  of  one 
substance  with  the  Father,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made  ;  who 
for  us  men,  and  for  our  salvation, 
came  down  from  Heaven,  and 
was  incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was 
made  man,  and  was  crucified  also 
for  us  under  Pontius  Pilate.  He 
suffered  and  was  buried,  and  the 
third  day  he  rose  again,  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures,  and  ascend- 
ed into  Heaven,  and  sitteth  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father ; 
and  he  sh;»ll  come  again,  with 
glory,  to  judge  both  the  quick 
and  the  dead ;  whose  kingdom 
shall  have  no  end. 

And  I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  the  Lord  and  giver  of  life, 
who  proceedeth  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son  ;  who  with  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Son  together  is 
worshipped  and  glorified,  who 
spake  by  the  prophets.  And  1 
believe  in  one  Catholic  and  Apos- 
tolic Church.  I  acknowledge 
one  Baptism  for  the  remission  of 
sins ;  and  I  look  for  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  and  the  life  of 
the  world  to  come.     Amen. 


436 


APPENDIX. 


SALUTATION. 

MASS  BOOK.  COMMON  PRAYER. 

The  Lord  be  with  you  ;  The  Lord  be  with  you  ; 

^ns.  And  with  thy  Spirit.  Ans.  And  with  thy  Spirit. 


THE  LITANY. 

The  Litany  is  little  else  than  a  transcript  and  amplification 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Litany  of  the  saints,  blended  with  the 
Litany  of  Jesus. 

Lord  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Christ  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Christ  hear  us. 
Christ  listen  to  us. 
Father  of  heaven,  God,   have 
mercy  upon  us. 


Oh  God,  the  Son,  redeemer  of 
the  world  have  mercy  upon  us. 

O  God,  the   Holy  Ghost,  have 
mercy  upon  us. 


Holy   trinity,   one 
mercy  upon  us. 


God,  have 


Holy  Mary,  pray  for  us. 
Holy  mother  of  God  pray  for  us. 
Saint  Michael  pray  for  us,  etc. 
Be    gracious   to    us,   spare    us 
Lord. 

Be  gracious  to  us,  hear  us,  God. 
From  all  evil ; 

Deliver  us  Lord. 
From  all  sin  ; 

Deliver  us. 
From  thy  wrath } 

Deliver  us. 
From  sudden  and  unprovided 
death } 

Deliver  us. 
From  the  snares  of  the  devil  ; 

Deliver  us. 
From  wrath,  hatred  and  all  evil 
desires } 

Deliver  us. 


From  the  spirit  of  fornication; 
Deliver  us. 


Oh  God,  the  father  of  heaven, 
have  mercy  upon  us,  miserable 
sinners. 

Oh  God,  the  Son,  redeemer  of 
the  world,  have  mercy  upon  us 
miserable  sinners. 

O  God,  the  holy  Ghost,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  father  and  the 
Son,  have  njercy  upon  us  misera- 
ble sinners. 

O  holy,  blessed,  and  glorious 
trinity,  three  persons  and  one 
God,  have  mercy  upon  us  misera- 
ble sinners. 


Remember  not.  Lord,  our  of- 
fences, nor  the  offences  of  our 
forefathers  ;  neither  take  thou 
vengeance  of  our  sins. 

Spare  us,  good  Lord  spare  thy 
people,  whom  thou  hast  redeem- 
ed with  thy  most   precious  blood, 
and  be  not  angry  with  us  forever  ; 
Spare  W5,  Good  Lord. 

From    all    evil     and     mischief, 
from  sin  :  from  the  crafts  and  as- 
saults of  the  devil,  from  thy  wrath, 
and  from  everlasting  damnation  ; 
Good  Lord  dflirer  vs. 

From  all  blindness  of  heart, 
from  pride,  vain  glory,  and  hypo- 
crisy, from  envy,  hatred  and  mal- 
ice, and  all  uncharitableness  ; 

Good  Lord  deliver  us. 

From  all  inordinate  and  sinful 
affections,  from  all  the  deceits  of 


APPENDIX. 


437 


MASS  BOOK. 


From   lightning  and  tempest } 
Delicer  us. 

From  everlasting  death ; 

Deliver  us. 

By  the  mystery  of  thy  holy  in- 
carnation ;  Deliver  us. 
By  thine  advent ; 

Deliver  us. 
By  thy  nativity ; 

Deliver  us. 
By  thy  baptism  and  holy  fast- 
ing ;  Dei  iver  us. 
By  thy  cross  and  passion  ; 

Deliver  us  Lord. 
By  thy  death  and  burial ; 

Deliver  us  Lord. 
By   thine   admirable   resurrec- 
tion ;  Deliver  u^. 
By    the   coming   of  the    Holy 
Ghost,  the  Paraclete ; 

Deliver  us. 
In  the  day  of  judgment ; 

Deliver  us. 

We  sinners  beseech  thee  to  hear 
us. 

That  thou  wouldst  spare  ; 

We  beseech  thee. 
That  thou    wouldst   deign    to 
lead  us  to  true  repentance  ; 

We  beseech  thee. 
That   thou   wouldst   deign    to 
grant  peace  and  true  concord  to 
christian  kings  and  princes ; 

We  beseech  thee. 


That  thou  wouldst  deign  to  pre- 
serve the  apostolical  master,  and 
all  the  ecclesiastical  ranks  in  our 
sacred  religion  ; 

We  beseech  thee  to  hear  us. 
That    thou   wouldst   deign    to 
humble  all  the  enemies  of  the  ho- 
ly church  ; 

We  beseech  thee  to  hear  us. 

37* 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil ; 

Good  Lord  deliver  us. 

From   lightnmg   and   tempest, 

from  plague,  pestilence  and  1am- 

ine,  from  battle  and  murder,  and 

from  sudden  death  ; 

Good  Lord  deliver  us. 
By  the  mystery  of  thy  holy  in- 
carnation, by  thy  holy  nativity, 
and  circumcision,  by  thy  baptism, 
fasting  and  temptation  ; 

Good  Lord  deliver  us. 


By  thine  agony  and  bloody 
sweat,  by  thy  cross  and  passion, 
by  thy  precious  death  and  burial, 
by  thy  glorious  resurrection  and 
ascension,  and  by  the  coming  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

Good  Lord  deliver  us. 

In  all  time  of  our  tribulation, 
in  all  time  of  our  prosperity,  in 
the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the  day 
of  judgement ; 

Good  Lord  deliver  us. 

We  sinners,  do  beseech  thee  to 
hear  us,  O  Lord  God,  and  that  it 
may  please  thee  to  rule  and  gov- 
ern thy  holy  church  universal,  in 
the  right  way ; 

We  beseech  thee  to  hear  us.  Good 
lA)rd. 

That  it  would  please  thee  to 
bless  and  preserve  all  Christian 
rulers  and  magistrates  :  giving 
them  grace  to  execute  justice  and 
to  maintain  truth ; 
We  beseech  thee  to  hear  us^  Good 
Lord. 

That  it  would  please  thee  to 
illuminate  all  bishops,  priests  and 
deacons  with  true  knowledge  and 
understanding  of  thy  word,  that 
both  by  their  preaching  and  liv- 
ing they  may  set  it  forth  and 
show  it  accordingly  ; 
We  beseech  thee  to  hear  uSy  Good 
Lord. 


438 


APPENDIX. 


MASS  BOOK. 

That  thou  wouldst  deign  to  la- 
vish on  the  whole  christian  peo- 
ple, peace  and  unity,  we  beseech 
thee. 


Son  of  God,  we  beseech  thee. 

O  Lamb  of  God  who  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world  ; 

Spare  «5,  Lord. 

Oh  Lamb  of  God  who  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  listen 
to  us,  Lord. 

Oh  Lamb  of  God  who  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  have 
mercy  upon  us. 

Oh  Christ  hear  us. 

Lord,  have  pity  on  us. 

Christ,  have  pity  on  us. 

Lord,  have  pity  on  us. 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

That  it  may  please  ihee  to  bless 
and  keep  all  thy  people  j 
We  beseech  thee   to  hear  us,  Good 
Lord. 

That  it  may  plea^-e  thee  to  give 
to  all  nations  unity,  peace  and 
concord  ; 

We  beseech  thee  to  hear  M5,  Good 
Lord 
Son  of  God,  we  beseech  thee  to 
hear  us. 

Oh  Lamb  of  God,  who  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  grant 
us  thy  peace. 

Oh  Lamb  of  God,  who  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  have 
mercy  upon  us. 


Oh  Christ,  hear  us. 
Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Christ  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Lord  have  mercy  upon  us. 


The  Episcopal  church  not  only  observes  almost  all  of  the 
holy  days,  festivals  and  fasts  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
but  it  copies  from  the  "  Mass  book"  with  little  variation  many 
of  the  collects  an  d  lessons  for  those  days. 


The  Epiphany. 
O  God,  who  by  the  direction  of 
a  star,  didst  this  day  manifest  thy 
only  Son  to  the  Gentiles ;  merci- 
fully grant  that  we,  who  now 
know  thee  by  faith,  may  come,  at 
length,  to  see  the  glory  of  thy  ma- 
jesty ;  through  the  same  Jesus 
Christ,  etc. 

First  Sunday  after  Epiphany 
According  to  thy  divine  mercy, 
O  Lord,  receive  the  vows  of  thy 
people,  who  pour  forth  their 
prayers  to  thee ;  that  they  may 
know  what  their  duty  requireth 
of  them,  and  be  able  to  comply 
with  what  they  know  ;  through 
Jesus  Christ,  thy  Son,  etc. 


TTie  Epiphany. 
O  God,  who  by  the  leading  of 
a  Star  di-lst  manifest  thy  only  be- 
gotten Son  to  the  Gentiles  ;  mer- 
cifully grant  that  we,  who  know 
thee  now  by  faith,  may  after  this 
life  have  the  fruition  of  thy  glo- 
rious Godhead,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.     Amtn. 

First  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 
O  Lord,  we  beseech  thee  mer- 
cifully to  receive  the  prayers  of 
thy  people  who  call  upon  thee  ; 
and  grant  that  they  may  both  per- 
ceive and  know  what  things  they 
ought  to  do,  and  also  may  have 
grace  and  power  faithfully  to  ful- 
fil the  same,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.     Amen. 


APPENDIX. 


4m 


MASS  BOOK. 

Second  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 
O  Almighty  and  eternal  God, 
Supreme  Ruler  both  of  heaven 
and  earth,  mercifully  give  ear  to 
the  prayers  of  thy  people,  and 
grant  us  peace  in  our  time  ; 
through  Jesus  Christ  thy  Son, 
our  Lord,  etc. 

Third  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

O  almighty  and  eternal  God, 
mercifully  regard  our  weakness, 
and  stretch  foith  the  right  hand 
of  thy  majesty  to  protect  usj 
through  Jesus  Christ,  etc. 


Septuagesima. 
Mercifully  hear,  we  beseech 
thee,  O  Lord,  the  prayers  of  thy 
people  ;  that  we,  who  are  justly 
afflicted  for  our  sins,  may  merci- 
fully be  delivered,  for  the  glory  of 
thy  name  ;  through  Jesus  Christ, 
etc. 


Third  Sunday  after  Easter. 
O  God,  who  showest  the  light 
of  thy  truth  to  such  as  go  astray, 
that  they  may  return  to  the  way 
of  righteousness  ;  grant  that  all 
who  profess  the  Christian  name, 
may  forsake  whatever  is  contrary 
to  that  profession,  and  closely 
pursue  what  is  agreeable  to  it ; 
through,  etc. 


Trinity  Sunday. 
O  almighty  and  everlasting  God 
who  hast  granted  thy  servants, 
in  the  confession  of  the  true  faith, 
to  acknowledge  the  glory  of  an 
eternal  Trinity,  and,  in  the  pow- 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

Second  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

Almighty  and  everlasting  God, 
who  dost  govern  all  thmgs  in 
heaven  and  earth  ;  mercifully 
hear  the  supplications  of  thy  peo- 
ple, and  grant  us  thy  peace  all  the 
days  of  our  life,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.     Jimen. 

Third  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 
Almighty  and  everlasting  God, 
mercifully  look  upon  our  infirmi- 
ties, and  in  all  our  dangers  and 
necessities  stretch  forth  thy  right 
hand  to  help  and  defend  us, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
.Amen. 

Septuagesima. 
O  Lord,  we  beseech  thee  fa- 
vorably to  hear  the  prayers  of 
thy  people,  that  we  who  are  just- 
ly punished  for  our  offences,  may 
be  mercifully  delivered  by  thy 
goodness,  for  the  glory  of  thy 
name,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Saviour,  who  liveth  and  reigneth 
with  thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
ever  one  God,  world  without  end. 
Amen. 

Third  Sunday  after  Easter. 
Almighty  God,  who  showest 
to  them  that  are  in  error  the  light 
of  thy  truth,  to  the  intent  that 
they  may  return  into  the  way  of 
righteousness ;  grant  unto  all 
those  who  are  admitted  into  the 
fellowship  of  Christ's  religion, 
that  they  may  avoid  those  things 
that  are  contrary  to  their  profes- 
sion, and  follow  all  such  things  as 
are  agreeable  to  the  sane,  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Amen.  . 

Trinity-  Sunday. 
Almighty  and  everlasting  God, 
who  hast  given  unto  us  thy  ser- 
vants grace,  by  the  confession  of 
a  true  faith,  to  acknowledge  the 
glory  of  the  eternal  Trinity,  and 


440 


APPENDIX. 


MASS  BOOK. 


er  of  majesty,  to  adore  an  Unity  ; 
we  beseech  thee,  that  by  the 
strength  of  this  faith  we  may 
be  defended  from  all  adversity  ; 
through,  etc. 


St.  Michael.,  the  Archangel. 
O  God,  who  by  a  wonderful  or- 
der, has  regulated  the  employ- 
ments of  angels  and  men;  grant 
that  those,  who  are  always  minis- 
tering before  thee  in  heaven,  may 
defend  our  lives  here  on  earth ; 
through  Jesus  Christ,  etc. 


Preface  on  Ascension  day. 
It  is  truly  meet,  and  just,  right, 
and  available,  that  we  always, 
and  in  all  places,  give  thanks  to 
thee,  O  holy  J^ord,  Father  Almigh- 
ty, eternal  God ;  through  Christ 
our  Lord ;  who,  after  his  resur- 
rection, manifested  himself  to  all 
his  Disciples,  and  in  their  pres- 
ence ascended  into  heaven,  to 
make  us  partakers  of  his  divinity. 
And  therefore  with  the  Angels 
and  Archangels,  with  the  thrones 
and  dominations,  and  with  all  the 
militia  of  the  heavenly  host,  we 
sing  the  hymn  of  thy  glory  ;  say- 
ing, without   end : 

Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord  God  of  Sa- 
baoth.  The  heavens  and  the  earth 
are  full  of  thy  glory.  Hosannah 
in  the  highest.  Blessed  is  he  that 
comes  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
Hosannah  in  the  highest. 


COMMON  PRAYER. 

in  the  power   of  the   divine 


Ma- 


jesty  to  worship  the  Unity  ;  we 
beseech  that  thou  wouldest  keep 
us  steadfast  in  this  faith,and  ever- 
more defend  us  from  all  adversi- 
ties, who  livest  and  reignest,  one 
God,  world  without  end.     Jimen> 

Saint  Michael  and  all  Jlngels. 

O  Everlasting  God,  who  hast 
ordained  and  constituted  the  ser- 
vices of  Angels  and  men  in 
a  wonderful  order ;  mercifully 
grant,  that  as  thy  holy  Angels  al- 
ways do  thee  service  in  heaven  ; 
so  by  thy  appointment,  they  may 
succor  and  defend  us  on  earth, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
^men. 

Preface  on  Ascension  day. 

It  is  very  meet,  right,  and  our 
bounden  duty,  that  we  should  at 
all  times,  and  in  all  places,  give 
thanks  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  [Holy 
Father,]  Almighty  everlasting 
God. 

Through  thy  most  dearly  belov- 
ed Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord; 
who,  after  his  most  glorious  res- 
urrection, manifestly  appeared  to 
all  his  apostles,  and  in  their  sight 
ascended  up  into  heaven,  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  us;  that  where 
he  is,  thither  we  might  also  as- 
cend, and  reign  with  him  in  glory: 

Therefore  with  Angels  and 
Archangels,  and  with  all  the  com- 
pany of  heaven,  we  laud  and  mag- 
nify thy  glorious  name ;  ever- 
more praising  thee,  and  saying, 
Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God  of 
Hosts,  heaven  and  earth  are  full 
of  thy  glory  :  Glory  be  to  thee, 
O  Lord  Most  High.     Amen. 


In  making  the  above  comparison,  we  have  only  used  the 
Mass  Book  or  Roman  Catholic  Manual  in  common  use  in  the 
United  States.  But  we  have  seen  enough  to  illustrate  the  po- 
pish  character  of  the   litiu-gy  of  the   Episcopal  church.    To 


APPENDIX.  441 

what  extent  this  comparison  might  be  carried  by  reference  to 
all  the  liturgical  books  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  we  are  not  in- 
formed. But  the  commissioners  who  formed  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer,  under  Edward  VI,  with  Archbishop  Cranmer  at 
their  head,  themselves  declare,  that  "everything  sound  and 
valuable  in  the  Romish  Missal  and  Breviary  was  transferred  by 
them  without  scruple,  to  the  English  Communion  Service  and 
to  the  Common  Prayer."  The  commissioners  who  were  ap- 
pointed by  Charles  II,  A.  D.  1661  to  revise  the  liturgy  also  say, 
"We  humbly  desire  that  it  maybe  considered  that  our  first 
reformers,  out  of  their  great  wisdom,  did  at  that  time  compose 
the  liturgy  so  as  to  ivin  upon  the  papists  and  io  draw  them  into 
their  church  communion,  by  verging  aS  little  as  they  could 
FROM  the  Romish  forms  before  in  use." 

From  the  first  introduction  of  the  English  liturgy  in  1548, 
there  was  a  steady  return  to  the  superstitions  of  Popery.  So 
that  the  Papists  themselves  boasted  "  that  the  book  was  a  com- 
pliance with  them  in  a  great  part  of  their  service ;  so  were  not 
a  little  confirmed  in  their  superstition  and  idolatry,  expecting 
rather  a  return  to  them,  than  endeavoring  the  reformation  of 
themselves."  This  return  to  the  Popish  service  became  so 
striking  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  that  a  body  of  divines  was 
appointed  by  the  Lords  in  1641,  to  take  into  consideration  cer- 
tain "  Innovations  in  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Church 
of  England."  Among  the  "innovations  in  discipline"  are 
enumerated  the  following: 

"  1.  The  turning  of  the  holy  table  altai*-wise,  and  most  com- 
monly calling  it  altar, 

"  2.  Bowing  towards  it,  or  towards  the  East,  many  times, 
with  three  congees,  etc. 

"  3  Advancing  candlesticks  in  many  churches  upon  the  altar 
BO  called. 

"  4.  In  making  canopies  over  the  altar,  so  called,  with  tra- 
verses and  curtains  on  each  side  and  before  it. 

"  5.  In  compelling  all  communicants  to  come  up  before  the 
rails,  and  there  to  receive. 

"  6.  In  advancing  crucifixes  and  images  upon  the  altar-cloth 
BO  called. 

"  7.  In  reading  some  part  of  Morning  Prayer  at  the  holy  table 
when  there  is  no  communion  celebrated. 

"8.  By  the  minister's  turning  his  back  to  the  West,  and  his 


442 


APPENDIX. 


face  to  the  East,  when  he  pronounceth  the  creed,  or  reads 
prayers. 

"  9.  By  pretending  for  their  innovations  the  injunctions  and 
advertisements  of  Queen  Ehzabeth,  which  are  not  in  force,  etc. 

"  10.  By  prohibiting  a  direct  prayer  before  sermon,  and  bid- 
ding of  prayer." 

In  addition  to  the  above  "  innovations"  exceptions  are  made 
to  the  change  in  the  vestments  of  the  clergy,  to  the  sign  of  the 
cross  in  baptism,  to  the  absohition  of  the  sick  and  the  burial 
service — "  tlie  sure  and  certain  liope  of  resurrection  to  eternal 
life." 

The  intelHgent  reader  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  striking  simi- 
larity, we  might  almost  say  the  perfect  identitij  of  these  innova- 
tions with  those  which  the  Puseyite  party  are  renewing  in  the 
Episcopal  church.  What  is  all  this  mighty  movement  of  that 
party  but  another  revival  of  Popish  superstition  ?  It  is  another 
return  to  Popery ;  another  sad  illustration  of  the  strong  affini- 
ties which  have  ever  subsisted  between  the  church  of  Eng- 
land and  the  church  of  Rome. 

"  Of  all  Protestant  churches,"  remarks  the  learned  author  of 
Horae  Biblicae,  himself  a  distinguished  civilian  and  a  Roman 
Catholic,  "  the  National  church  of  England  most  nearly  resem- 
bles the  church  of  Rome.  It  has  retained  much  of  the  dogma, 
and  nuich  of  the  discipline  of  Roman  Catholics.  Down  to  the 
sub-deacon  it  has  retained  the  whole  of  their  hierarchy  ;  and, 
like  them,  has  its  deans,  rural  deans,  chapters,  prebends,  arch- 
deacons, rulers  and  vicars;  a  liturgy,  taken  in  a  great  measure, 
from  the  Roman  Catholic  liturgy,  and  composed  like  that,  of 
Psalms,  Canticles,  the  three  Creeds,  Litanies,  Gospels,  Epistles, 
prayers  and  responses.  Both  churches  have  the  sacraments  of 
Baptism  and  the  Eucharist,  the  absolution  of  the  sick,  the  bu- 
rial service,  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  the  reservation  of 
confirmation,  and  order  [ordination]  to  bishops,  the  difference 
of  Episcopal  and  sacerdotal  dress,  feasts  and  fasts." 

We  know  indeed  that  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England 
strongly  protest  against  the  errors  of  Popery,  and  assert  the 
doctrines  of  the  Reformation.  And  this  is  another  verification 
of  the  famous  declaration  of  Lord  Chatham,  that  the  Church  of 
England  has  "  a  Calvinistic  creed,  a  Popish  liturgy,  and  an  Ar- 
minian  clergy." 


SCRIPTURAL  INDEX 


Genesis  9  :  25—28 
Numbers  6  :  24 — 27 
Joshua  6 :  26 
1  Sim.  14  :  24 
1  Kinirg  16  :  34 
Psalms  22:  19 
Ecclesiasles  5 :  6 
Joel  3:3 
Nahum  3  :  10 
Zephaniah  3  :  3 
Haggai  1:13 
Malachi2:  7 
Matthew  6  :  9- 

20 :  25- 

27:  35 

Mark  10  :  16  . 


Acts  13 :  40,  41  , 

14  :  23    . 

15:   1   . 

15 :  29—33 

16 :  25 

17  :  22     . 


124,126. 

28 


Philippiins  1:  I   32,57, 

2 :  25 

4:  3    . 


Coll  s<ians  1  : 

3:   16 

4:    10 


1  Thessalonians  1 :  1 

3:  2 

4:  1     . 


Page. 

.     3u3 

33,  59,  63 

33,48 

33 

.     365 

393 

184,222,223 

.    255 

393 

.    395 

3JJ6 

.      32 

31 

.      30 

33 

.      34 

36 

.      36 

32 

.     157 

125 

.      33 

336 

.    365 

158 

.      57 

33,57 

.       32 

23 

15,  332 

18 

.     158 

158 

.     158 

365,  378 

184,222,2.-5 

33,  222 

156 

.      57 

365 

57,  156 

57,  156 

.      57 

32 


444 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


1  Thessalonians  5 
5  :  12  . 

2  Thessalonians  1 
1  Timothy  1  :  1 


21 


16  . 
8     . 
1—7    . 
14  . 
21 

17  . 

2  Timothy  1:6. 

2  :  24,  25 

2:  11—13 

Titus  1  :  5—9 

1 :  6—10 

Hebrews  2:  17    . 

3:  1     . 

4:  14 

5:   10   . 

10:  25      . 


32 

124 

:  1  .       57,  156 

366 

.     3(36 

180,  221 

127,  131,223 

.  127, 178,  184 

.      30 

127 

.     178 

30 

.    266 

166,184,215,220 

131 

.    415 

415 

.    415 

415 

.      40 


Hebrews  13:  7,17,24 
James  2:1 
2:  2     . 

9 

2     . 

2,3     . 

13  . 

12 

1      . 

1 

1     . 


1  Peter  2 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5: 


4—8 


2  John  1 

3  John  1 
Revelation  1 

2  :  8   . 

4:  8 

5  :  9—14  . 

11:  15—19 

15:  3  . 

21  :  1—8 

22 :  10—18  . 


124 
.   32 

40 

.   77 

3P6 

.  128 

.  57,  156 

.  156 

130,  183 

.  184 

184 

.  *  165 
.  366 

366 
.  366 

366 
.  366 

366 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES, 


Agath.  Cone,  254,  286. 
Allgemeine  Kirchenzeit.,  25. 
Ambrose,  Opera,  179,180,371,372. 
Ammianus  Marcellinus,  406. 
Ancyra,  Cone,  179,  414.        [292. 
Antioch,  Cone,  62,  73,  277,  279, 
Aquinas,  Thos.  Summa,  3,  423. 
Aries,  Cone,  75. 
Arnold's  Christian  Life,  275. 
Wahre-AbbildungderErs- 

ten.  Christ.,  4to.,  2H,  293. 
Athanasius,  Apol.,  209,  De  Syno- 

do  Arimin.,  269. 
Augusti.  Denkwardigkeiten,  364, 

371 ,  372, 383,  384,  386,  3b7,  416. 
Auffustine.  Ep.,  67,  74,  149. 

1_  Opera,  179,  182,  219,  326, 

372,  374,  381 . 

Arelat.  Cone,  277,  278,  296,  410. 

B 

Barcelona,  Cone,  62. 

Barries'  xApostolical  Church,  155. 

Barrow,  Dr.,  on  Pope's  Suprem- 
acy, 50,  105,261. 

Basil,  the  Great,  294,  339,  344, 
349,  371. 


Baudry's  Selections,  63. 
Baumgarten,     Erlauter.     Christ. 

Alt.,  116,  163. 
Beausobre,  155. 
Bengel,      Erklar.    Offenbarung., 

161. 
Eernaldus,  Constantiensis,  225. 
Beza,  on  Acts  14  :  23,  63. 
Bibles,     Swiss,    French,   Italian, 

etc.,  on  Acts  14  :  23, 63. 
Bingham,  67,  69,  72,  75, 227,  338. 
Blondell,  on  Elections,  70. 
Apologia  pro  Hieron.,  163, 

190,  227,  351 . 
Bohmer,  J    H.,  Diss.,  Juris  Ec- 

cles.  Antiq.,  97,  155,  .257,  396. 

Jus.  Protestant.,  416. 

Bohmer,   VV.,  Altertiiumswissen- 

chaft,  72,  78,  124,  254. 
Bower's,  Gesch   der  Pflpste,  312. 
Bowden's  Works,  130. 
Bowdler's  Apostolical  Succession, 

143,  155,  V.S,  H7. 
Bracar.,  Cone  ,254,  286,  304. 
Bull,  Bishop,  Defensio   Fid.  Nic, 

369. 
Burnet's  History  of  Reformation, 

192. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


445 


Burton's  History  of  the  Christian 
Church,  50, 1D9,  202. 


Campbell's  Lectures  on  Ecci.Hist- 
152,156,161,165,202,203,248,261. 

Canons,  Apostolical,  62,  273, 277. 

Carthag.  Cone,  254,  277. 

Chapman,  in  Sraytli's  Presbytery 
and  Prelacy,  130. 

Chalcedon,  Cone,  73,  277,  292. 

Chrysostom,  Hom.  ad  Act.  1.  p. 
55,  ad  Cor.  102. 

Works,  140, 152,  163,  220, 

221, 289,  306,  371,  372,  374, 419. 

Christian  Observer  for  1804,  354. 

Clarkson's  Primitive  Episcopacy, 
110,211,212,234. 

Clarkson,  Dis.  on  Liturgies,  344, 
349,  351. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  149,  172, 
173,  327,  348,  371. 

Clemens,  Romanus,  Ep.  ad  Co- 
rinth. 33, 35,  48,  62,  64,  96,  164, 
327. 

Codex  Ecclesiae  Africanae,  62. 

Coleman's  Christian  Antiquities, 
137,  189,  267,  272,  290,  291, 
370, 408.  {192. 

Conder's   Non-Conformity ;    141, 

Constitutions,  Apostolical,  149, 
260,  414. 

Constitution  and  Canons  of  the 
Epis.  Church,  235,  409. 

Cyprian,  Ep-  68  ;  66,  71,  98—101, 
103, 104, 177,  204,  206,  257,  258, 
259,  268, 270, 276,  297,  339,  408. 

Cranmer,  Bishop,  192. 

Croft,  Bishop,  131. 

Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  149. 


Daille,  ci-dessus,  155. 

D'Aubigne's  History  of  Reforma- 
tion, 77,  254, 270,  386,  4i(J4,  405. 

De  Wette,  Acts  14:  23,63. 

Diodati,  on  Acts  14:  23,  63. 

Du  Pin,  Antiqua  Ecclesiae  Dis- 
ciplina,  52,  98,  103,  105. 

Sac.   Geog.  Africa.,    207, 

208.  ^ 

E 

Echell.  Abr.  Eutychius  Vindica- 
tas,  188. 

38 


Edin.  Rev.,  213,  214. 

Eichhorn,  Can.  Recht.,  269. 

Epiphanius,  149,  301. 

Eliberis,  Council,  269,  273,  296. 

Ephraem,  the  Syrian,  384. 

Erasmus'  Works,  138. 

Eschenburg,  Versuch,  Religions- 
vortrage,  396. 

Eutychius  of  Alexandria,  187, 188. 

Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  History, 
33,71,  81,  103,  105,  138,  148, 
149, 164, 170, 171, 172, 179, 270, 
286, 289,  290,  367, 368, 371, 373, 
396. 

Vit.  Const.,  339,  348,  367. 


Evangelist,  N.  Y.  208. 


P"'athers,  early,  on  Elections,  64. 
Firmilian,  177,  257,  268,  339. 
Forbes,  Bishop,  193. 
Fuchs'  Bibliotheca,  113,  252. 


Gabler,  De  Episc.  Prim.  Eccl., 
227,  256. 

Gangra,  Cone.  279,  286,  292. 

Gerbert,  Musiea  Sacra,  364,  372, 

Gehardi,  Loci,  Theolog.,  139. 

Gieseler,  Lehrbuch,  256,  257. 

Gieseier,  Cunningham's  Trans., 
60,  71,  124,  226,  258. 

Goode's  Divine  Rule,  178,  195. 

Gratian,  226. 

Gregory  Nazianzen,  72,  79,  163, 
225, 305. 

Greiling,  Christengemeinen,  36, 
50,55. 

Gretser,  De  Benedictionibus,  414, 
420. 

Grossman,  D.,  Ueber  eine  Re- 
formation der  Protestantischen 
Kirch.  Verfass.  in  Konigr.  Sach- 
sen.  55. 

Grotius,  Comment,  ad  Act.,  11 : 
30,  45  ;  14:  23, 63. 

Tra<jt  on  Lay  service,  138, 


Guerike,  Kirch.  Gesch.,  107, 254, 
256. 

H 
Haenen  Exercit.  De  Benedic.,416. 
Hales'  Works,  127. 
Hall,  Bishop,  323. 
Hall  Robert,  308. 


446 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Hallam's  Constitutional  Hist., 
318,319,360,362. 

Hammond,  Henr.,  227. 

Hardy,  Rev.  Th.,  290,  307. 

Hawes'  Tribute,  241. 

Hawks,  Rev.  Dr.,  235,  262. 

Hefele,  C.  J.ed.  of  Clem,  ad  Cor., 
64. 

Hegesippus,  149. 

Henke,Allgem.  Gesch.der  Christ. 
Kirch.,  259,  269. 

Herder  on  Psalmody  of  the  An- 
cient Church,  374,  375. 

Higginson,  Rev.  John,  245. 

Hilary,  Comment.,  178,  257,  372. 

Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Polity, 
109. 

Horace,  409,  412. 

Hubbard,  Rev.  William,  245. 

Hullman,  UrsprOnge  der  Verfass. 
in  Mittelalter,  312. 

H.  W.  D.  of  Philadelphia,  190. 

I 

Ignatius  to  the  Philadelphians  and 
Smyrneans,  62,  65,  ad  Phil.  109, 
204,  Epistles,  198, 199, 200,204, 
205. 

Iliad  XXIII,  54. 

n.  77,  412. 

Irenaeus'  Works,  169,  170,  171, 
204,  257,  327. 

Isidor.  Pelus ,  378. 


Jerome's  Works,  68, 132, 133, 149, 
183,  184,  185, 186, 187, 215, 216, 
218,  219,  301,  304,  373,  378. 

Jewel,  Bishop,  219. 

Justinian,  76. 

Justin  Martyr,  166,  167,  168,  204, 
249,  327,  340,  342,  343,  368. 

Kinor's  Primitive  Christianity,  50, 
69,  96, 98,  104,  129,  193,  203. 


Lactantius,  Instit.,  408. 
Lampridius,  Vit.  Severi,66. 
Lancey,  De,  Bishop,  198. 
Laodicea,  Council,  209,  277,  292. 
Launcelot,  J.  P.,  228. 
Le  Bret,  Gesch.  Von  Ital.,  312. 
Leo  Allatius,  De  Eccl.  Occid.  et 
Orient,  418. 


I-eo  the  Great,  76. 

Leo  VII,  293. 

Letters  to  the  Laity,  265,  266. 

Locke  on  Government,  280. 

Lucian's  Philopatris,  327. 

Luther's  first  Hymn  Book,  385. 

Luther's  Works,  388. 

M 

Macaulay 's  Miscel.,  240,  319, 362, 
411. 

Maijon,  Cone,  303. 

Magdeburg  Centuriators,  110. 

Mant  and  d'Ogly,  155. 

Marca,  Peter  de,  257. 

Mason's  Works,  127,  129,  155, 
217,219,261. 

Mather's  Apology,  192. 

Mendoza,  de  Ferdin.,  269. 

Meyer,  on  Acts  14:  23,  63. 

Miller,  Rev.  Dr.,  Letters,  192. 

Milton's  Prose  Works,  148,  169, 
176,  200,  239,  297,  410. 

Morinus,  De  Ordinat,  188. 

Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Christiano- 
rura  ante  Constantinum  Mag- 
num, Commentarii,  4to,  35,  48, 
49,  52,  54,  58,  59,  61 ,  69,  107, 
108,  115, 250,  254, 257, 270, 303, 
305. 

Mosheim,  Can.  Recht.,  106,  256, 
259,  270. 

Hist.  Eccl.,  256. 


Manscher,  Handbuch  der  Christ. 

Dog.,  258. 
MQnter,  Met.  Offenbar.,  347,  364, 

367,  369, 373. 

N 
Neal's  History  of  the   Puritans, 

319,  360. 
Neander's  Allgemeine  Geschichte 
der  Christlichen  Religion  und 
Kirche,  34,  43,  48,  57,  60,  104, 
108,  138,  254,256,269,280,  373. 

Antagonisticus,  332. 

Geschichte  der  Pflantzung 


und  Leitung  der  Christlichen 
Kirche,  25,  32,  35,  36,  42,  60, 
124,  131,  136, 142, 148, 155, 156, 
254,  256,  265,  396. 

Introduction  to  this  work, 


13—23, 157. 
Necessary  Erudition,  193. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


447 


Neocaesarea,  Cone,  62. 

Nice,  Council,  Can.,  6, 52,  73,273, 

277,  414. 
Nicholas  Tudischus,  226. 
Norton,  Prof.,  199. 

O 

Observer,  Christian,  144,195,409. 
Odyss.,  Homeri,  54. 
Onderdonk's   Episcopacy  tested, 

144,  153. 
Origen,  against  Celsus,  65. 

Homily  on  Levit ,  65. 

Com.  in  Math.,  101,  111, 

112. 

De  Orat.,  159 

Opera,  259,  325,  329,  344, 

368. 
Orleans,  Cone,  76. 
Owen's  Gospel  Church,  56,  57. 


Paris,  Cone,  78. 

Pertsch,  Canon  Recht.,  31,  254, 
303. 

Kirchliche   Historic,  Vol. 

1.  31,  35,  71,  105,  254,  256, 287, 
303. 

Petavius  on  Eutych.,  of  Alex.,  188. 

Planck,  Geschichte  der  Christlich- 
Kirchlichen,  Gesellschafts-Ver- 
fassung,  5,  Bde.,  8vo.,  Vol.  I. 
27,  31,  71,  72,  73,  106,  113, 114, 
115,  120, 189, 251,252,  254, 258, 
269,  270,  279,  283, 285, 286, 287, 
293,296,300,303,309,311. 

Pliny's  Letters,  248. 

Polycarp,  Ep.,  to  the  Philippians, 
96,  165,  166,  327. 

Quien  Le,  on   Eutychius   of  Al- 
exandria, 189. 
R 

Ranke's  Hist,  of  Popes,  230. 

Recorder,  Episc,  238. 

Rehkopf,  Vit.  Patriarch  Alex.,189. 

Reland,  Antiq.  Sac.  Vet.  Heb., 
418.  [188. 

Renaudot.  Hist.  Patriarch  Alex., 

Rheinwald,  Kirchliche  Archaol- 
ogie,  124,  163,  271 . 

Riddle's  Christian  Antiquities,  67, 
69,  96,  98,  163,  165,  348. 

Chronology,  51,  71,73,78, 

81, 108,  268,  351. 


Rigaltius,  138. 

Rohr's  Kritischen  Predigerbiblio- 
thek,  55. 

Rothe,  Die  AnfUnge  der  Christli- 
chen  Kirche,  Vol.  I.  25,  42,  43, 
46,  56,  58,  124,  131,  136,  142,, 
147,  150,  152,  155,  157,  181^ 
199,  396. 

S 
Sack,  Comment.  Theolog.  Inst., 

35. 
Salvianus,  306. 
Schoene,  Geschichtsforschungen 

der    Kirchlichen    Gebrauchen- 

und    Einrichtungen    Christen, 

28,  131,  206,  207,  208,  254,  342, 

352. 
Schroeter  und  Klein,  FOr  Chris- 

tenthum    Oppositionschrift,   I. 

28 
Scho'ettgen,  Horae  Heb.,  158,  160. 
Scholiast,  Greek,  223. 
Schroeckh,  Kirch.  Gesch.,  310. 
Scriptore   Ecclesiastic!,    De  Mu- 

sica,  377. 
Selden,  Origines  et  Romae,  cited, 

188. 
Semisch,  C.  on  Justin,  340. 
Severus,  Alex  ,  66. 
Sidonius  Apollinar.,  74,  76,  305. 
Siegel,  Handbuch  der  Christlich. 
Kirchlichen  AlterthUmer,  4  Bde. 
28,  124,  252,  271,  277,  278,  283, 

416. 
Simonis, Vorlesungen  Ober  Christ. 

Alterthum.,  78. 
Siricius  Ep.  ad  Himer.,  72. 
Smyth  on  Presbytery  and   Prela- 

cy,  177. 

Eccl.   Repub ,  235,    265, 


276,  279,  280,  320. 

Apostolical      Succession, 


131,  192. 

Presbytery  and  not  Prela- 


cy, 130,  131,  155,  192. 
Socrates'  History  of  the  Church, 

32,  50,  67,  210,  234,  301,  404. 
Sozomen,  Eccl.  History,  67,  209, 

210,  286,  290,  294,  384. 
Spectator,  Christian,  192. 
Spittler,  Canon,  Recht.,   31,  254, 

2.56, 269.  [205. 

Stillingfleet's  Irenicura,  192, 193, 


448 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Suicer,  on  xsiootovtoi^  63. 

Thesaur.,  257. 

Sulpitius,  Severus,  Vit.  e.  Marti- 
ni, 67. 
Symmachus,  Ep.  75. 
Synessii,  Ep.  74,  163. 


Talmud,  Jerusalem,  160. 

Tarracon,  Cone,  252. 

Tertullian's  Apology,  65,  97,  98, 
174,  345,  346,  347, 368,  396.  De 
Poenit.,  103.  De  Fudicit.,  98. 
De  Fuga,  111.  Ad  Castitat., 
Ill,  257.  De  Jejun.,  114.  De 
Anima,  367.  De  Corona,  174. 
De  Bapt.,  174,  339.  De  Prae- 
scrip.,  257.  De  Monog.,  258. 
De  Oratione,  328,  329. 

Theodoret,  Eccl.  History,  64, 209, 
222,  371,  384. 

Theodorus  Mopsues.,  371. 

Theodosian,  Codex,  284, 270,  300. 

Thomas  de  Jesu,  387. 

Tindal,  on  Acts  14  :  24,  63. 

Toletum,  Cone,  304. 

Tracts  for  the  Times,  121,  350. 

Trajan's  Epistle,  366. 

Urban  II.  Pope,  225. 

Usher,  Archbishop,  193,  227. 


Valentinian  III.  76. 

Valesius  in  Euseb.,  294. 

Vater  and  Henke,  Allgem.  Kirch. 

Gesch.,  269. 
Venema,  Institutiones  Hist.  Eccl., 

118. 
Vitringa,   De   Synagoga   Vetere, 

4to.,  40,  45,  46,  158,  225,  413, 

418. 

W 
Wadduigton's  Church  Hist.,  165. 
Wake,  Bishop,  on  Clem.   Ep.  ad 

Cor.,  64. 
Walch,  De  Hymnis  Eccl.  Apost., 

365  ;  Hist,  der  Papste,  406. 
Whately's  Errors   of  Romanism, 

358,  364. 

Kingdom  of  Christ,  45, 


51,  161,  197. 
Whittaker,  1<)3. 
Wiseman,  Dr.,  on  the  Tractarian 

movement,  362. 
Witsius,  De  Oratione,  351. 
Xenophon's  Memorabilia,  133. 
Ziegler's  Versuch  -der  Kirchlich- 

en  Verfassungsformen,  124,252, 

256,  283,  293,  309,  311,  312. 
Zunz,      Die     Gottesdienstlichen 

Vortrage  der  Juden.,  160. 


GENERAL  INDEX 


Admission  to   the   church,  mode 

^^   of,  112.  ^ 

"AyysXog  r^g  iiiyiXt]Giag.,  157 — 159. 

Alexandria,  mother  church,  253. 

Ambrose  chosen  bishop,  67,  72. 

Angel  of  churches  supposed  bish- 
op, 144  ;  not  bishop,  157 — 161. 

Antioch,  Council  of,  62,  73,  277, 
279,  292. 

Antistes,  antistes  sacrorum,  163. 

Apollos  not  ordained,  142,  143. 

Apostles  shun  the  distinctions  of 
rank,  30 ;  disown  Episcopal 
power,  31,  146  ;  brotherly  sal- 


utations, 31 ;  remonstrate  with 
the  church,  and  address  them  as 
independent  fraternity,  33 — 35, 
37 ;  do  not  baptize,  137  ;  their 
oversight  of  the  churches,  150  j 
govern  them  collectively,  151. 

Apostolical  succession,  origin  of, 
298 ;  derived  from  Romish 
church,  313. 

Archer's  Speech,  279. 

'j4QX0VTts  txitXrjamv,  163. 

Aristocracy  in  elections,  76 ;  gov- 
ern the  church,  77 ;  rise  in  the 
church,  249 — 254  ;  convention- 
al, unauthorized,  251 . 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


449 


Auretius,  reader,  71. 

B 

Baptism  by  presbyters,  137. 

Barnabas  the  Evangelist,  157. 

Basilinopolis,  252. 

Benediction,  origin  and  import  of 
the  rite,  412  ;  Aaronitic,  415  ; 
apostolical,  entirely  unlike  the 
benediction  of  the  Jewish  priest- 
hood, and  that  of  prelacy,  416 
— 418  ;  mode  of  administering 
the  rite,  418  ;  abuses  of  it,  419 
—426. 

Bengel,  on  the  angel  of  the 
church,  160. 

Bible,  a  republican  book,  240. 

,  withheld  from  the  laity,  289. 

Bingham,  on  elections,  67. 

Bishops,  their  office,  36 ;  their 
election  resisted,  73 ;  not  dis- 
tinguished from  presbyters,  125; 
proof,  126,  163 ;  plurality  of, 
inadmissible,  127,  128 ;  never 
confounded  with  apostles  or 
deacons,  130 ;  derived  from 
Greek,  131 ;  titles  interchanged 
with  presbyters,  126  sq.,  163  ; 
their  qualifications,  131  ;  duties 
the  same  as  those  of  presbyters  ; 
but  one  in  a  diocese,  127,  133  ; 
no  official  title  in  the  Scriptures, 
145 — 161  ;  not  superior  in  rank 
to  presbyters,  145  sq. ;  accord- 
ing to  Clement,  164  ;  to  Foly- 
carp,  165 ;  to  Justin  Martyr, 
167  ;  to  Irenaeus,  169 ;  to  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria,  172  ;  to  Ter- 
tullian,  174  ;,  merely  presbyters, 
193;  pastors  only  of  single  par- 
ishes, 201  ;  a  bishop's  charge 
originally  a  single  congregation, 
201  sq.;  admitted  by  Episcopa- 
lians, 202  sq. ;  all  met  for  wor- 
ship in  the  same  place,  204  ; 
personally  known  to  their  bish- 
op, 205,  206  ;  limited  in  extent, 
206 ;  bishop  in  country  towns, 
206—209;  vast  multitudes  of 
them,  208, 209,  note  ;  ascenden- 
cy of  city  bishops,  254  ;  identi- 
cal in  rank  with  presbyters,  ac- 
cording to  Jerome,  215 — 219  ; 
to  Augustin,  219  ;  to  Chrysos- 

38* 


torn,  219,  220,  221  ;  to  Theodo- 
ret,  222 ;  to  the  Greek  scholiast, 
223  ;  to  Elias,  archbp.  of  Crete, 
and  to  Gregory  Nazianzen,  to 
Isidorus  Hispalensis,  224,  225  ; 
to  Bernaldus  Constantiensis,  to 
pope  Urban,  to  Gratian,  to  Nich- 
olas Tudeschus,  225,  226;  to 
J.  P.  Launcelot,  and  to  Gie- 
seler,  226 ;  origin  of  their  dis- 
tinction from  presbyters,  causes 
of  their  increasing  ascendency, 
254—257  ;  called  priest,  258 ; 
their  authority  yielded  by  silent 
consent,  260  ;  mildly  exercised 
at  first,  260  ;  authority  increas- 
ed by  councils,  269  ;  bishops  in 
the  city,  their  pre-eminence, 
274 ;  tyranny  over  the  clergy, 
276 ;  hold  the  revenues  of  the 
church,  278;  power  over  the 
clergy,  280 ;  vast  accumulation 
of  their  wealth,  287  ;  means  of 
carrying  their  measures,  292; 
divine  rights  of,  297—300; 
their  intolerance,  292 ;  their 
pride,  303 ;  their  ignorance,304. 


Campbell  on  the  Episcopate  of 
Timothy  and  Titus,  156. 

Canon  of  Valencia,  69. 

Carthage,  discipline  by  the  church 
of,  99—101. 

Causae  ecclesiasticae,  285. 

Catechetical  instructions  favor 
Episcopacy,  272. 

Catholics,  multitudeof  their  bish- 
ops, 307. 

Chalcedon,  council,  68- 

Chorepiscopus  253. 

Christ,  his  example,  29 ;  his  in- 
structions, 29;  his  spirit,  29; 
worshipped  as  divine  in  primi- 
tive psalmody,  368—370. 

Christianity,  rapid  spread  of,  248 ; 
suffers  no  alliance  with  the  state, 
307. 

Christians,  styled  Jews,  40. 

Chrysostom  chosen  bishop,  67; 
on  bishops,  128. 

Church,  primitive,  first  formation, 
25  ;  addressed  by  the  apostles, 
31,  32 ;  modeled  after  the  syna- 


450 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


goffue,  34,  39—46;  according 
to  Neander,  41 ;  Vitringa,  43 ; 
Whately,  43 ;  name  derived 
from  synagogue,  40 ;  kept  pure, 
84  ;  a  religious  society,  for  reli- 
gious ends,  229  ;  no  connection 
with  state  governments,  but 
adapted  to  any,  230  ;  restraints 
upon  the  clergy,  231  ;  guarded 
against  sectarianism,  232;  gave 
scope  to  ministerial  zeal,  233  ; 
preserved  harmony  in  the  cler- 
gy, 233 ;  formed  an  efficient 
ministry,  234  ;  made  an  efficient 
laity,  236 ;  suited  to  our  free  in- 
stitutions, 239  ;  sovereignty  de- 
stroyed, 284  ;  begins  to  inherit 
property  by  will,  287 ;  corrup- 
tions of,  289. 

'Church  government  popular,  25, 
37,  228;  simple,  26,  28,  45; 
changed,  77,  313 ;  church  and 
state  united,  294—296. 

•Church,  "  holy  catholic,"  214. 

•Churches,  formed  alike,  60  ;  bond 
of  union  in  the  apostles,  150  ; 
care  of  them  by  the  apostles, 
151  ;  apostolical,  their  ascen- 
dency, 247—254. 

Clemens,  the  Evangelist,  156. 

Clement  of  Rome,  cited,  64, 
164. 

Clergy,  nominations  in  elections, 
67 ;  opposed  by  the  people,  72  ; 
'deposed  by  the  church,  104 ; 
discipline  by  them,  113,114; 
not  prosecuting  officers  in  the 
church,  119  ;  two  orders,  124, 
125,  127;  subject  to  restraint, 
231, 232  ;  depressed  by  the  bish- 
op, 275;  unjust  privileges,  285 ; 
distinctions  observed  with  care, 
291  ;  party  spirit  of,  291  ;  syco- 
phancy of,  293;  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical powers,  294  ;  appeals  to 
the  emperor,  295  ;  mercenary 
spirit,  296  ;  claim  divine  right, 
^97 — 300;  persecuting  spirit, 
300. 

College  of  presbyters,  20,  2-55. 

Collection  sent  by  Saul,  146. 

Conder,  on  ordination,  140. 

Confederation  of  the  church, 
114. 


Congregation,  meaning  of,  43. 

Congregational  singing,  379, 380; 
in  Germany,  381 . 

Consignat,  179. 

Constantinople,  council,  68. 

Cornelius,  chosen  bishop,  68. 

Correspondence  of  the  churches 
and  bishops,  270. 

Council  of  the  churches  with  the 
apostles,  33. 

Councils,  their  authority  denied, 
51,52;  at  Jerusalem,  135 ;  re- 
sult not  by  James,  135,  136; 
their  influence  in  forming  Epis- 
copal government,  2C7 — 270. 

Cyprian  on  elections,  66,  68 ;  on 
discipline  by  the  church,  88, 89. 


Daille  on  elections,  67, 

Deacons  chosen  by  the  church, 
33,  56 ;  their  office,  124  ;  induc- 
tion to  office,  1 39 ;  distinguished 
from  presbyters  and  bishops,  145 
163. 

Declension,  religious,  caused  by 
Episcopacy,  305  sq. 

Delegates  sent  by  the  churches, 
33,  58  ;  their  character,  58. 

Delegation  from  Antioch  to  Jeru- 
salem, 135, 147. 

Delegatus  ecclesiae,  159. 

Delitzsch,  Dr.,  on  the  angel  of  the 
chh.,  159  sq. 

Jidxovot,  124,  168. 

Diocesan  Episcopacy,  267 — 280  ; 
disfranchises  the  laity,  274 ; 
destroys  the  discipline  of  the 
church,  280. 

Discipline  by  the  church,  34,  36, 
37,  88  :  argument  from  Scrip- 
ture, 88,  89  ;  from  the  early  fa- 
thers, 94  sq.;  from  ecclesiasti- 
cal writers ;  from  analogy,  108 ; 
usurped  by  the  priesthood,  113, 
114;  authorities,  105—107;  at 
Carthage  100 ;  at  Rome,  103 ; 
in  the  Eastern  church,  102; 
right  of  lost,  116  ;  the  right  in- 
herent in  the  church,  117  ;  ad- 
vantages of,  118  sq. ;  not  puni- 
tive,117;  neglected  in  the  Epis- 
copal church,  121, 122, 305 ;  mo- 
ral efficacy  of  it,  123;  admin- 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


4&1 


istered  by  bishops,  269,  275; 
destroyed,  279. 

Disciplina  Arcani,  271 ;  is  an  ar- 
gument against  a  liturgy,  348. 

Disfranchisement  of  the  laity,  284. 

Disputes  decided  by  the  church, 
33. 

Divine  right,  70,297—300;  guid- 
ance, 77. 

Donatists,  multitude  of  their  bish- 
ops, 208. 

Du  Pin  on  discipline  by  the  church 
106;  on  primitive  Episcopacy, 
206—209. 

Duties  of  bishop  and  presbyter 
identical,  133. 


Edinburgh  Review,  on  apostolical 
succession,  212 — 214. 

'Hysofiai,  133. 

'/f)'oi'//fj'ot,  124. 

Elections  by  the  church,  33,  34, 
53,  54  ;  loss  of,  70—81 ;  of  an 
apostle,  54  ;  by  the  brethren  ac- 
cording to  Mosheim,  Neander, 
Grossman,  Rohr,  55 ;  Chrysos- 
tom,  55  ;  of  the  deacons,  56  ; 
of  the  delegates,  57 ;  of  the  pres- 
byters, 58  ;  usual  mode  of,  62  ; 
mode  of  resistance  by  the  bish- 
ops, 72 ;  tumultuous  proceed- 
ings— efforts  to  correct   them, 

74  ;  controlled  by  the  bishops, 

75  ;  canonical,  apostolical,  79  ; 
right  of  every  church,  80  ;  pre- 
serves balance  of  influence,  81 ; 
foundation  of  religious  liberty, 
81  ;  safeguard  of  the  ministry, 
83;  of  the  church,  84  ;  promotes 
mutual  endearments  between 
pastor  and  people,  85  ;  produces 
an  efficient  ministry,  86. 

Emperors,  Christian,  mistaken  ef- 
forts to  extend  Christianity,  307, 
308. 

Episcopacy,  primitive,  201.  See 
bishops.  Illustrated,  196 — 215; 
fallacious  reasoning  of,  210 ; 
rise  of,  246  ;  causes  of  it,  249 — 
262  ;  summary  of  its  rise,  259 — 
261  ;  anti-republican  character- 
istics, 264,  265,  318  ;  growth  in 
this  country,  264,  2^;    illus- 


trates the  rise  of  ancient  Epis- 
copacy, 266 ;  divine  right  of, 
297 — 300;  introduced  irreligious 
men  into  the  ministry,  302;  ori- 
gin of,  in  ambition,  315 ;  op- 
pressive to  the  laity,  116,  273, 
284,  315;  creates  unjust  dis- 
tinctions among  the  clergy,  316, 
excites  bad  passions,  316 ;  into- 
lerant, 317  ;  impairs  the  effica- 
cy of  preaching,  356,  399,  403, 
406 — 409;  hindrances  to  minis- 
terial usefulness,  234, 235;  want- 
ing in  liberality,  238  ;  fails  to 
preserve  the  unity  of  the  chh., 
410  ;  its  tendency  to  supersti- 
tion, 422 ;  encourjiges  the  idea 
of  a  vicarious  religion,  423  ;  en- 
courages a  disposition  to  substi- 
tute the  outward  form  for  the 
inward  spirit  of  religion,  425, 
426. 

Episcopal  concessions  on  names 
of  bishop  and  presbyter,  144. 

Episcopalians  concede  the  identi- 
ty of  bishops  and  presbyters, 
144 ;  the  validity  of presbyterian 
ordination,  192, 198;  unsupport- 
ed by  argument,  227. 

'EmaxoTtoij  124,  126,  163,  164. 

*  EniGKOTcovvTsg,  128. 

"EtfOQOij  163. 

Eraclius,  chosen  bishop,  67. 

Eustathius  chosen  bishop,  67. 

Excommunication  by  the  church 
— by  the  bishops,  114. 

F 

Fellowship  of  the  churches,  48  ; 
encouraged  by  the  apostles,  150; 
interrupted  by  Episcopacy,  280. 

Forms  of  prayer  opposed  to  the 
spirit  of  Christianity,  321 ;  to 
the  example  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles,  323,  324;  unautho- 
rized by  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
325  ;  contrary  to  the  simplicity 
of  primitive  worship,  331  ;  un- 
known in  the  primitive  church, 
334  ;  opposed  to  gospel  freedom 
and  the  example  and  instruc- 
tions of  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
335,  339  ;  opposed  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  primitive  worship,  340 


452 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


— 348 ;  at  first  indited  by  any 
one,  348  j  prepared  for  the  ig- 
norant, 349 ;  not  adapted  to  the 
desires  of  the  worshipper,  353 ; 
wearisome  by  repetition,  353, 
354;  not  in  harmony  with  the 
subject  of  discourse,  355. 

G 

Gangra,  council,  236. 

Gifts,  miraculous,  141. 

Government  of  the  church  by  the 
members  of  it,  109 ;  changes 
through  which  it  passed,  312. 

Guidance,  divine,  claimed  by  the 
bishops,  115, 117. 

H 

Hall,  Robert  on  church  and  state, 
294. 

Hands,  laying  on  of,  140. 

Harmony  in  the  church,  27. 

Hawes'  tribute,  241. 

Hegesippus,  character  of  James, 
149. 

Heresies  punished  with  great  se- 
verity, 300;  greatly  increased, 
301. 

Hierarchy,  origin  of,  247 ;  further 
development,  267 — 280;  metro- 
politan, 281 ;  influence  of  on  the 
laity — on  the  clergy — on  moral 
state  of  the  chh.,  302,  303. 

Hilary  on  primitive  worship,  332. 

Homilies  in  the  primitive  church, 
391 ;  discourses  of  Peter,  391, 
392 ;  of  Paul,  393;  characteris- 
tics of  their  preaching,  394, 395; 
homilies  in  Greek  church,  cha- 
racteristics, 400 — 402  ;  causes 
of  the  forming  of  this  style,  402 
— 405 ;  homilies  in  the  Latin 
church,  405;  causes  productive 
of  their  characteristics,  406,407. 

H.  W.  D.  of  Philadelphia,  190. 

Hymns  of  human  composition  for- 
bidden, 376. 

I 

Identity  of  bishops  and  presbyters, 
124.  See  under  each  term  bish- 
op and  presbyter. 

Ignatius,  his  epistles  suspected, 
197 ;  interpolated,  198 ;  unsatis- 


factory, 198,  199 ;  do  not  sup- 
port Episcopacy,  199,  200. 

Imposition  of  hands,  141,  144. 

Independence  of  the  churches,  35, 
57 — 150 ;  asserted  by  Mosheim, 
48,  49 ;  by  Barrow  and  Dr.  Bur- 
ton, 50;  by  Riddle,  51;  by 
Whately,  51. 

Innocent  111,  arrogant  preten- 
sions, 79.  [376. 

Instrumental  music  in  churches, 

Interventors  in  elections,  75. 

Irenaeus,  identity  of  bishops  and 
presbyters,  169 — 172. 


James  not  bishop  at  Jerusalem, 
135,  136,  146;  reasons  for  his 
residence  there — his  character, 
148. 

Jerome  on  elections,  68 ;  on  bish- 
ops and  presbyters,  132,  215— 
217. 

Jerusalem,  council  at,  135;  seat 
of  the   Christian  religion,  148. 

Judgment,  private  right  of,  in- 
fringed, 289. 

Jury  of  the  church,  trial  by,  118. 

Justin  Martyr,  cited,  167,  168 ;  on 
primitive  worship  and  ordinan- 
ces, 340—344. 
Lt 

Laity  baptize,  138  ;  disfranchised, 
274 ;  oppressed,  275. 

Laity  and  clergy,  balance  of  pow- 
er between,  81 ;  disfranchised, 
116  ;  injustice  to  them,  284,  315; 
loss  of  their  spiritual  privileges, 
285  ;  indifferent  to  the  interests 
of  the  church,  287, 288 ;  to  their 
Christian  fellowship,  288,  289 ; 
lose  control  of  revenues,  286. 

Lapsed,  censure  of,  113. 

Laws  enacted  by  the  people,  49, 
109;  right  taken  from  them,  115, 
116. 

Legatus  ecclesiae,  158. 

Letters  addressed  to  the  church, 
1 09 ;  missive  by  the  church,110. 

Liberty,  religious,  loss  of,  81. 

Litigations  settled  by  the  church, 
37. 

Liturgy  formed  by  each  bishop, 
48 ;  unknown  in  the  primitive 


■% 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


453 


church,  321  sq.,  337  ;  no  relics 
of  any,  nor  record  of  such  as 
found  at  this  time,  338  ;  appeal 
is  made  to  tradition  for  sucli 
forms  as  belong  to  the  liturgy, 
339,  340  ;  liturgies  the  produc- 
tion of  a  corrupt  age,  351 ;  for 
an  ignorant  priesthood,  351  ; 
encroach  upon  the  time  which 
should  be  allotted  to  the  sermon, 
356 ;  exalt  the  inventions  of 
man  above  the  word  of  God, 
357  ;  English  liturgy  of  popish 
origin,  359 ;  erroneous  in  doc- 
trine, 360. 

Lord's  prayer  not  a  prescribed 
form,  325 ;  unknown  as  such 
by  the  apostles  and  apostolical 
fathers,  325 — 329  ;  summary 
conclusions  respecting  it,  329 — 
331 ;  unsuited  to  the  Christian 
dispensation,  331 ;  varied  phra- 
seology, 324. 

Luther,  a  reformer  by  his  musi- 
cal powers,  385. 

M 

'^^h'q,  157. 

Ma'reotis,  supplied  by  presbyters, 
253. 

Mark,  the  Evangelist,  157. 

Martin,  of  Tours,  chosen  bishop, 
72. 

Mason,  Dr.  on  equality  of  bishops 
and  presbyters,  129  ;  cited,  135. 

Maximianists,  their  bishops,  208. 

Miletius  chosen  bishop,  67. 

Milton's  Prose  Works  cited,  150, 
169. 

Ministers,  none  superior  to  pres- 
byters, 145. 

Mosheim,  on  elections  by  the 
church,  60.  See  Index  of  Au- 
thorities. 

Metropolitan  Government,  estab- 
lished, 281 ;  means  of  its  estab- 
lishment, 282—284;  results,284. 

N 
Neander,  on  the  two  great  parties 

in  the  church,  334.     See  Index 

of  Authorities. 
Nice,  Council  on  Elections,  67. 
Nice,  Church  of  jurisdiction,  253. 


Offices  of  clergy  multiplied,  290, 
291. 

Officers  of  the  church,  35,  36. 

Onderdonk,  on  equality  of  bishops 
and  presbyters,  144  ;  on  office 
of  Timothy,  153, 154. 

Orders,  but  two  in  the  priesthood, 
163. 

Ordination  by  presbyters,  139 — 
176;  import  of  it,  141,  note; 
right  of  presbyters  according 
to  Firmilian,  177;  to  Irenaeus, 
176;  to  Hilary,  178—180;  to 
Jerome,  183—186  ;  to  Euty- 
chius  of  Alexandria,  187 — 188; 
to  Planck,  189 ;  to  Neander, 
189  ;  to  Blondell,  189  ;  to  the 
Canons,  190;  to  Dr.  Miller,191, 
192;  various  Episcopal  author- 
ities, 192 — 197;  by  Cranmer, 
192;  Necessary  Erudition,  193; 
Whittaker,Usher,  193;  Stilling- 
fleet,  Forbes,  King,  193;  Chris- 
tian Observer,  195 ;  Gonde, 
195  ;  Bowdler,  197  ;  Summary, 
197,  198  ;  Clarkson,  211—212  ; 
by  Metropolitan,  283  ;  by  Di- 
vine Right,  298. 

Organs  in  Church  music,  377. 

Origen,  as  a  preacher,  400. 

"Offjy  Bvvatiti  dt»rw,  of  Justin,  342, 
343. 

Overseers,  name,  35. 


Papal  Government,  310. 

Parochial  bishops,  51 ;  parochial 
system,  251.  [119. 

Pastor,  not  a  prosecuting  officer, 

Pastores,  163. 

Patres  ecclesiae,  163. 

Patriarchal  Government,  309. 

Paul  and  Barnabas,  ordaining 
presbyters,  62 ;  in  council  at 
Jerusalem,  135  ;  his  ordination, 
143.  [lis. 

Peace  of  the  church,  by  discipline, 

Pearson,  on  elections,  67. 

Penance,  system  of,  114;  pro- 
motes the  bishop's  power,  271, 

Penitents,  restored  by  the  church, 
102. 

People  overreached  in  elections, 


454 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


77;  people  govern  themselves 
in  everything,  107,  108;  rights 
abridged  by  councils,  267,  268. 
F  Planck  on  divine  right,  296—298. 
See  Index  of  Authorities. 

Iloi/iialvoj,  134. 

Poljcarp,  cited  165,  166. 

Pontificale  Roman um,  68. 

Pope  of  Rome,  his  ascendency 
established,  311. 

Praesides,  praesidentes,  praesules, 
163. 

Praepositi,  163. 

Prayers  of  the  primitive  church, 
321  ;  See  forms  of  prayer, 
prayers  of  Christ,  and  the  apos- 
tles extempore,  323,  324,  341 ; 
Lord's  prayer,  32a;  attitude  in, 

Presbyters,  their  office,  36,  124, 
125 ;  choice  of  them,  58 ;  by 
•  the  church,  61  ;  titles,  124  ; 
equality  with  bishops,  124—162; 
addressed  as  bishops,  126;  term 
derived  from  Jews,  131 ;  appel- 
lations interchanged  with  bish- 
ops, 126, 162;  qualifications,l31, 
166  ;  duties  identical  with  pres- 
byter, 133;  teachers  of  the 
church,  134  ;  counsellors,  135  ; 
administer  ordinances,  136  ;  or- 
dain, 139  ;  distinguished  from 
deacons,  163  ;  equal  to  bishops, 
according  to  Clement,  164  :  to 
Polycarp,  165 ;  to  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, 167 ;  to  Irenaeus,  169 ;  to 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  172, 
173  ;  to  Tertullian,  174  ;  ascen- 
dency of  those  in  a  city,  2.53  ; 
their  right  to  ordain,  176,  177  ; 
according  to  Firmilian,  177  ;  to 
Hilary,  178—181 ;  to  Jerome, 
183—186  ;  to  Eutychius,  of  Al- 
exandria,  187—188  ;  to  Planck, 
189;  to  Neander,  189  ;  to  Blon- 
dell,  189 ;  to  Dr.  Miller,  190, 
191  ;  to  various  Episcopal  au- 
thorities, 192 — 197  ;  according 
to  Jerome,  215—220  ;  to  Chry- 
sostom,220,221;  toTheodoret, 
222,  223  ;  to  the  Greek  Scho- 
liast, 223,  224;     to  Elias,  of 


Crete,  and  to  Gregory  Naz., 
224  ;  to  Isidorus,  to  Bemaldus, 
to  Pope  Urban,  225 ;  to  Nicho- 
las Tudeschus,  to  J.  P.  Launce- 
lot,  and  to  Gieseler,  226 ;  Col- 
lege of,  255. 

TlQeo^vttQoi,  163. 

President  of  presbyters,  255. 

Priesthood,  Jewish,  disowned  by 
the  church,  45  ;  divine  right  of, 
70.  ^         ' 

Priesthood,  discipline  by,  114. 

Primate,  etc.,  name  of  metropol- 
itan, 283. 

Priests,  bishops  so  called,  258; 
claim  to  be  divinely  appointed, 

ITQotSQOij  163. 

nQosGTok,  158, 168, 169. 

lT^o£OT(^T6g,  159,  163. 

HQoundfisvoij  124,  163. 

nqoatdzai^  163. 

IlQocprirai,  157. 

Protest  against  secular  power,  78  ; 
of  Free  church  in  Scotland. 
81,82. 

Psalmody  of  the  primitive  church, 
363  ;  the  first  disciples  indited 
and  sang  songs,  .366 ;  fragments 
of  such  in  the  New  Testament, 
366;  songs  of  primitive  Chris- 
tians, 367 ;  Christ  the  subject 
of  their  songs,  369  ;  one  primi- 
tive hymn  remains,  369 ;  mode 
,  of  singing,  370,  371 ;  no  in- 
strumental music,  371 ;  respon- 
sive singing  not  general ;  all 
the  congregation  sang,  371 ; 
delight  of  primitive  Christians 
in  it,  372 ;  power  of  ancient 
psalmody,  373  ;  changes  in  an- 
cient psalmody,  375 ;  claimed 
by  the  clergy,  379 ;  means  of 
propagating  doctrinal  truth, 
383;  of  moral  discipline,  387; 
importance  of  simplicity  in  it, 
389. 
Puritans,  their  wis.Jom  and  piety, 
241 — 244  ;  their  legacy  to  us, 
242 ;  defection  from  their  reli- 
gion, 244. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


455 


R 
Receive  the   Holy   Ghost,  origin 

of  the  term,  299. 
Repubhc  of  the   church,  47,  48. 
Revenues  of  church  held  by  bish- 
ops, 278,  279  ;  taken   from   the 

laity,  284. 
Riddle,  on  elections,  69  ;  on  pres- 

byterian  ministry,  137. 
Right  divine  of  bishops,  origin  of, 

in  the    Episcopal  church,  J  94, 

318  ;    in   the   ancient   church, 

297—300. 
Roman  Government,  tolerated  all 
.     religions,  27. 
Romish   church    on    equality   of 

bishops   and    presbyters,   144  j 

corruption  of,  311. 
Ruler  of  the   synagogue,  45 ;  his 

duties,  158, 160. 

S 

Sacrament,  how  administered 
primitively,  341. 

Scottish  Free  church,  81. 

Scriptural  exposition,  importance 
of,  397—399. 

Secular  music  corrupts  the  wor- 
ship of  the  church,  377. 

Secular  power,  interference,  78. 

Seniores,  seniores  plebis,  163. 

Shepherd,  office  of  bishop  and 
presbyter,  134. 

Silas,  the  Evangelist,  156. 

Simonis,  on  discipline  by  the 
church,  106. 

Singers  in  a  choir  in  the  fourth 
century,  376. 

-i!ia2  n^V«,  21,  158,  159,160, 
161.   '   ■ • 

Sovereignty  of  the  church  de- 
stroyed, 284. 

Stuart,  Prof,  on  the  angel  of  the 
church,  157  sq. 

Submission,  passive  doctrine  of, 
116. 

Succession,  apostolical,  absurdity 
of,  145,211—214  ;  origin  of  de- 
rived from  the  Romish  church, 
295,  296. 

Suffrage,  universal,  60  ;  right  of, 
81 .     See  Elections. 


Sycophancy  of  the  clergy,  293. 

Sylvanus,  the  Evangelist,  156. 

Synagogue,  endeared  to  the  Jew, 
40  ;  ruler,  45 ;  popular  in  gov-  :^ 
ernment,  46.  * 


Temple-service  unsuited  to  the 
church,  39  ;  discarded,  45. 

Tertullian,  discipline  by  the 
church,  98;  on  baptism  by  laity, 
138;  on  primitive  order,  333; 
on  primitive  worship  and  ordi- 
nances, 344 — 347. 

Timothy,  supposed  bishop,  144; 

.  not  bishop  of  Ephesus,  152; 
Timothy,  an  evangelist,  153, 
155 ;  travels  with  and  for  the 
apostle,  154  ;  entreated  to  re- 
main at  Ephesus,  154. 

Titus,  supposed  bishop,  144  ;  not 
bishop  at  Crete,  156. 

Tractarian  movement  admired  by 
Catholics,  362. 

Tractarians  assign  origin  of  Lit- 
urgies to  the  fifth  century,  349. 

Trajan,  on  songs  of  primitive 
Christians,  366. 

Truth,  religious,  its  simplicity 
gives  it  power,  352. 

Tumults  of  elections,  74. 

U 

Unity  of  the  church,  unknown  in 
apostolical  age,  47;  absurd,  214; 
influence  in  establishing  the 
Episcopal  government,  270. 

Usage,  apostolical,  110. 

Usurpation  of  the  bishops  in  elec- 
tions, in  discipline,  116. 


Valens,  presbyter,  defection  of,96. 
Valesius,   on    discipline     by   the 

church,  105. 
Vicarious  priesthood,  415 — 426. 
Visitors  at  elections,  75. 

W 

Wealth  of  the  clergy,  286,  287. 
Whately  on  omissions  in  Scrip- 
ture, 336,  337. 


456 


GENERAL  INDEX- 


Whitby,  Dr.,  on  the  office  of  Tim- 
othy and  Titus,  156. 

Wiseman,  Dr.,  on  the  Tractarian 
movement,  362.  .. 

Worship  of  the  church  simple, 
38,  321,  332 ;  does  not  tolerate 


disorder,   322,  333;    primitive 
and  ordinances,  340,  348. 

Xagiafiava,  141. 

XeLfjorovij&Hi,  etc.,  52,  61. 

XsiQOTovtiv ,  meaning  of,  61. 

XeigoTovtjaavTtff  140. 


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